Seven Monmouth University students traveled to London, England (Feb. 18 to 23), to compete at the London International Model United Nations (LiMUN) hosted by King’s College London. LiMUN is the largest and most competitive competition on the European Model UN circuit. Monmouth was one of the few American universities (along with Stanford and Northeastern) that sent a delegation to this competition, which attracts the top MUN universities from across Europe. Over three days of competition, each Monmouth student represented a country on a different committee of the United Nations and was asked to resolve a pressing global challenge. Monmouth’s head delegates for this trip and conference were Anthony Tesoriero (Jr/BE) and Warda Chowdhury (So/BY). Students in their free time visited the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Parliament, and Big Ben, Piccadilly Circus, Covent Garden, and King’s Cross Station’s Platform 9 ¾, along with other iconic locations around Central London. With a snowstorm canceling the group’s return flight on Monday, the group used its extra day in England to visit Cambridge and Monmouth alumnus Giovanni DeNatale, who helped coach the Monmouth students in London. DeNatale is completing his master’s degree at Cambridge University.
All the Monmouth students put in strong performances. Turning in especially strong performances were Tesoriero; Chris Feliks (Jr/PS-BE) representing Turkey on the “2030 NATO Crisis” committee; Chowdhury representing Pakistan on the World Trade Organization (WTO) committee; and Veronica Belloso (Sr/PS). Rounding out the Monmouth delegation were Giavanna Cangialosi (Jr/PS), Frank Dige (So/PS), and Juli Casey (So/PS).
The MUN students wish to express thanks to those who made this amazing trip to the United Kingdom possible: President Patrick F. Leahy, the Student Government Association, Vice President of Student Affairs Jim Pillar, Leon Hess Business School Dean Nancy Uddin, and the Political Science Program, notably Department Coordinator Wendy Harris. When Monmouth puts students first, it is at its best! Go MUN Hawks!
Next up, the MUN Hawks will compete at Rider University on Friday, March 27. The Rider competition marks the end of the 2025-2026 MUN activities. Over the current academic year, MUN Hawks competed at six conferences: University of Massachusetts Amherst; University of Oxford, England; National Conference in Washington, D.C.; Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts; King’s College London, England; and Rider University. MUN Hawks is open to all undergraduate students. Interested students should reach out to Professor Ken Mitchell (kmitchel@monmouth.edu), chair of the Department of Political Science and Sociology and faculty advisor to the MUN Hawks.
