Bang!

The gavel whacks the desk. Delegates flinch as they hear the piercing sound cut through the air. They straighten up in their seats and ready their speeches. The conference has begun.

SMCHS hosts its first Model United Nations Conference of the year on Saturday, Sept. 27. This is the 23rd annual South Orange County Model United Nations Conference (SOCOMUN). The conference parallels the United Nation’s first meeting on Sept. 16. SOCOMUN is intended to simulate this real international event.

About 1,200 delegates from all over Southern California are expected to attend the conference making it “the largest one day conference in the world,” according to John Remmell, MUN adviser and social studies teacher.

Richard Voelkel, who founded the SMCHS MUN program, started the first conference in 1991. Since then, the conference has grown in numbers and attracted both novice and advanced delegates.

SOCOMUN is known as a learning conference, which means the chairs — or heads of each committee — teach the participants how to be passionate and strong MUN delegates throughout the conference. Delegates are advised to do some preparation, but they are taught all of the MUN basics while in committee.

“This conference is unique in that we don’t expect delegates to come in knowing anything about Model United Nations,” Remmell said. “I expect them to come in with nervousness, anxiousness and fear. And I expect them to go home excited about MUN.”

The conference is run by Remmell and a team of five juniors that comprise the Upper Secretariat. Over 100 other students from SMCHS and other Southern California schools will supervise and moderate each committee during the conference.

Remmell and his SOCOMUN Secretariat have been dedicated to conference preparation since May to ensure its success.

The theme for the conference is “Learning from the Past, Leading the Future”. Delegates are inspired to consider past events in solving present and future events. Remmell and his team have selected charged debate topics such as chemical and biological weapons, capital punishment and cyber terrorism.

“I hope that the delegates are able to engage in an educational and interesting debate, while also learning about the basics of MUN,” said junior Caroline Guirgis, one of two Secretaries General at SOCOMUN.  “Since this is a beginners conference, we are hoping to start off all of the delegates with a strong first MUN experience and instill a vigor to achieve in all of their conferences yet to come.”