After 20 years, Model UN still provides award-winning opportunities

By Kyle Hobstetter on March 20, 2022

In 2002, Carver Center for the Arts teacher Hugh Kearney came to Towson University’s Political Science Department looking to do something new.

He wanted to create a Model United Nations program that provided local high school students with a chance to understand international politics and issues. And while there are Model UN programs across the country, there wasn’t one located in central Maryland.

That’s when he met with TU political science professor Alison McCartney. The two formed a partnership that 20 years later has provided thousands of high school students an opportunity to not only understand international politics, but also get to experience what it’s like to be on a college campus.

“It's been so wonderful to see so many students come through the program and how they’ve been affected by this, in terms of the direction of their lives and their careers,” Kearney says. “We have some alumni who now have careers in the justice department, the state department and others of international concern.”

On Friday, March 4 and Saturday, March 5, the Towson University–Baltimore County Public School (TU/BCPS) Model United Nations held its 20^th annual conference inside the newly renovated University Union Ballrooms.

During the first TU/BCPS Model UN Conference, the program featured just 74 students from six schools and met in a classroom in Smith Hall. Now the program hosts 243 students from over 20 high schools representing four different Maryland school districts.

Founded on equity and opportunity

Since its inception, the TU-BCPS Model UN has become a leading force in Maryland for college, career and civic readiness as well as for service-learning opportunities.

It’s also one of the only Model UN Conferences where there is no cost for participants.

“We were founded fundamentally on a partnership with equity and opportunity,” McCartney says. “Equity, where a student, no matter what school they're from could participate. And then opportunity, meaning a global opportunity and a college readiness and exposure opportunity.  

“This is about learning about other countries, other cultures and other parts of the world and negotiating and working with people from different cultures and countries from around the world. But the college career and readiness are a really important part because we really wanted to expose kids who had never been to a college campus.”

Engaging with the world

The programming compliments Baltimore County Public School’s curriculum and provides Towson University and area high school students with a means to be active participants in the Greater Baltimore community and with international issues that impact Maryland.

The conference schedule included an investigation of world issues, development of platforms and positions, debates and presentations about each issue, and resolutions to be voted upon by the delegates, with students representing over 120 countries.

The conference took place during the beginning weeks of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, so human rights was one of the main themes of this year’s Model UN. During the opening statements of the conference on Friday, many of the “countries” showed their allegiance to the people of the Ukraine.

“It gives me hope for our global future to see the growth of this program and that more and more students are interested in being global citizens,” says Renee Baylin, BCPS facilitator for the Model UN Program. “It also gives me hope that so many students from so many different backgrounds and experiences are willing to come together and try to solve problems that affect us as well as the rest of the world.”

A learning experience for all

High school students also get a chance to interact with current Towson University students, who are part of McCartney’s civic engagement and international relations class. The Towson University students serve as facilitators, and help make sure the high school students are in constant communication with one another on the conference’s issues.

So along with learning about international initiatives, the program is able to bring students onto campus to show them around, and let them interact with current college students and faculty members.

Because of the program’s impressive reach and unique structure over the past 20 years, the TU/BCPS Model UN received special citations from both Baltimore County Executive John Olszewski and Maryland Governor Larry Hogan.

This isn’t the first time the program has been recognized. In 2018, Campus Compact Mid-Atlantic recognized the TU/BCPS Model UN and McCartney with the P20 Partnership award. It was also one of three initiatives recognized by Towson University during the 2018 BTU Partnership Awards.

“Some of these students are going to go to college because they saw themselves as college students here at TU, working with Towson students in a university sponsored program,” Baylin says. “It's another reason why this is such an award-winning program, because we're providing the support that kids need to be successful and feel supported.”

“Most of the students participating in this program would not have the opportunity if it wasn’t for the development and commitment of both Towson University and Baltimore County.”

With the success of the TU/BCPS Model UN, McCartney is starting work on a book about the program with Baylin, Kearney and others who have been involved with the project.

Through the book, McCartney is hoping to show how the TU/BCPS Model UN is a model of high-quality civic engagement, pedagogy and connection within the community.

“As a teacher and as a scholar, it has been a priceless opportunity to hone my craft and to engage with my students in an ever-evolving learning opportunity,” McCartney says. “It's like they say, when you have a baby and it's born and it's steals your heart in ways you couldn't have imagined. The same thing would be the case with the Model UN that we run here and my partnership with Baltimore County, because it's just gone on so many places that I just couldn't have imagined.”