A Cal Poly Pomona student team won the Outstanding Delegation title at the National Model United Nations (NMUN) conference held in New York April 2 - 6. The title is the diplomacy competition's highest honor. The team, which was representing the Central African country of Gabon, also received an Outstanding Position Paper recognition.

More than 164 teams from around the world participated in the Model UN event, where students act as diplomats researching and advocating for positions on major real-world issues based on the policies and circumstances of their assigned country. Students write position papers discussing real problems and solutions facing the international community. For this event, the team addressed topics such as "Building Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure to Achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9" and "Promoting Access to Affordable, Reliable, Sustainable, and Modern Energy for All."

"It was surprising to learn that Gabon is carbon negative," said Brandon Lesser, a first-year team member. "The small African nation has made great strides towards sustainability by heavily investing in hydropower and actively protecting their abundant rainforests."

The Bronco team was led by Head Delegates Tala Qasqas (political science) and Raisa Majid (political science). The team also included political science majors Diana Alfaro, Amary Corona, Abigail Dizon, Victoria Flores, Kailey Gonzalez, Ariana Isidoro, Brandon Martinez, Juliana Murillo, Michael Perez and Raneen Vace; and Hamza Abutaleb (civil engineering); Salman Khan (biotech); Lesser (urban planning) and Esmeralda Ruiz-Ayala (English literary studies).

In November, the team competed in their first international competition in the program's history. At the Model UN competition in Kobe, Japan, the Cal Poly Pomona team won an Outstanding Position Paper award while representing both Saudi Arabia and Norway. Their topics were "Promoting Mental Health and Improving Access to Care" and "Adapting Energy Systems for Energy Security and Climate Change Mitigation."

For Majid, a graduating senior who has participated in Cal Poly Pomona's program for four years, the program has given her the opportunity to explore her future career path and valuable experience.

"My career goal is to become a human rights lawyer," Majid said. "When I applied for Model UN four years ago, that was my goal, and being a part of Model UN has increased my interest and passion for the field."