Monmouth University’s Model United Nations (MUN) Team delivered an inspired performance at the Oxford International MUN Conference (OxIMUN) over the weekend of Oct. 31 through Nov. 2, 2025. Students from around Europe and the United Kingdom competed on thematic committees hosted by individual colleges of Oxford University, including Christ Church, Jesus, Balliol, and Pembroke. Students give formal speeches, participate in the writing of UN policy resolutions, and engage in three days of group negotiations with other students. MUN conferences follow the rules of the United Nations. Public speaking, policy research, and negotiating skills are needed to succeed at an MUN conference. In addition to three days of committee competition, students participate in social events in the evenings around the University pf Oxford , including a formal/black-tie dinner at St Anne’s College.
Monmouth’s delegation of six students won four individual awards and an overall team award. Monmouth was the lone U.S. university at the competition. This year was one of the strongest performances by Monmouth at OxiMUN, a popular stop on the European Model UN circuit. Earning individual speaker awards: Head Delegate Anthony Tesoriero (Jr/BE) and Warda Chowdhury (So/BY) on the Artificial Intelligence 2030 Crisis Committee, with Tesoriero turning in a tour-de-force performance role-playing Elon Musk and Chowdhury role-playing the director of the Beijing Academy of AI; Chris Feliks (Jr/PS/BE) represented Indonesia on the World Health Organization (WHO) Committee and negotiated new UN rules on vaccine and quarantine during pandemics; and Juli Casey (So/PS) represented the United States on the Disarmament and International Security Committee (DISEC), which focused on UN rules regarding the flow of armaments into the Middle East. Giavanna Cangialosi (Jr/PS) and Eleanor Parks-Orr (Sr/CE) rounded out the Monmouth delegation.
Most coveted at Model UN conferences are team or delegation awards. Monmouth’s team earned the “highly commended delegation” award, placing it in the top two universities overall. Top delegation went to Radboud University from Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
The Model UN Team thanks President Patrick F. Leahy for advocating for their club and for encouraging their ambitions to compete at a high academic level; Vice President of Student Affairs Jim Pillar for his help regarding the resources that make these transformative student experiences possible; the Political Science Program, whose faculty contribute their time and energy outside of class to helping the MUN students prepare for difficult academic competitions; and Wendy Harris, department coordinator for political science and sociology, for coordinating all the travel, visa, and other related paperwork and approvals associated with Monmouth students and international travel.
Earlier in the semester the Model UN Team competed at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and next up is the National Model UN Conference in Washington, D.C. (Nov. 7 to 9), where Monmouth’s delegation will consist of 32 students. Next semester, the Model UN Team plans to compete at four conferences: Harvard University, University College London, Rider University, and Zurich University.
Go MUN Hawks!
