By Priscilla Le
Disclaimer: Priscilla Le is currently a board member of the Model United Nations club.
You read that disclaimer right.
I’ve loved Model United Nations (MUN) since I joined my freshman year. Throughout the conferences and club meetings, I learned about world issues that piqued my interest and I was part of a group that also found these experiences worthwhile. I loved it so much that I’ve been a member for four years and been on board for two, getting to lead the club and see it grow.
Starting next year, the MUN club at Fountain Valley High School (FVHS) will be replaced with an extensive Honors/MUN pathway, taught by history teachers Kelly Ducat, Michael Kral and Julie Chaicharee.
And although this should be a positive development—regarded as the next step for a successful MUN club—the push for a class leaves a devastating predicament: it could leave current MUN members behind.
By this I mean rising upperclassmen who wish to continue their participation in the club or as leaders on MUN’s board.
To be clear, I am not against an MUN class in and of itself. Instead, I am against how the classes are being implemented without ensuring that students who have been a large part of MUN do not get the short end of the stick.
In the past, most of the interest for the club came from freshmen and sophomores, so I wouldn’t expect juniors to be flocking to take the class. And as customary for any new class, if there is not enough interest, it won’t be offered. And where would that leave the rising upperclassmen who have been hoping to lead the club?
It would be tragic if the students who love MUN, who have been in the club for years and desperately want to be in the class, are essentially handed the options of either (a) giving up and accepting the fact that they won’t have a MUN experience next year or (b) undertaking an equally hopeless reality: trying to recruit enough of their friends to take the class with them.
Of course, whether or not the numbers will be there is, at this point, conjecture. In an interview with me about the planned pathway, Ducat noted that the number of students interested in taking the class was presently “up in the air.” Kral also said that class enrollment numbers are usually given at the end of the year when they are more concrete.
And while I appreciate their honesty, it does little to quell the anxiety of current club members who wonder whether or not they will be able to continue participating in MUN.
Even if we don’t know the official numbers now, there should be preparation for alternatives if and when those numbers turn out to be insufficient.
So what would those alternatives look like?
Well, the choice that does the least damage to this group of people would simply be a delay of the MUN class installation. And yeah, I know that solution sounds pretty extreme. But to fully rectify the situation these upperclassmen find themselves in while also balancing the efforts of those who have planned the classes, this solution would not only erase this problem but also improve the program.
By waiting even just one year, it would ensure upperclassmen get their final hurrah as they have a guaranteed space to participate in MUN, and especially to join the board if they are interested. The issue would not be perpetuated since the class would likely have more interest as it funnels students into the next grade level, creating a self-sustaining system.
It would also guarantee more time for Ducat, Kral and Chaicharee as they have more time to plan for the program and sort out kinks. Issues regarding funding for conferences, coursework planning and more would only improve with time.
Students should be able to have a guaranteed chance to participate in MUN with the minimum being what they were offered in the club. But if the classes won’t be filled, then how will that be accomplished? Even if a delay is out of the question (which I presume it is) at the very least, the club should be able to continue in order to provide that guarantee. And once the classes are in full force, with all four grade levels represented, then it would then be logical to shift from a club to a class.
Next year, the MUN program could be incredibly successful. But if it does not consider the unreasonable circumstance it has put the upperclassmen in, then I remain unconvinced that MUN should join its place among the numerous courses offered at FVHS in the coming year.
Without any solution to fix this issue, instead of delightful anticipation, upperclassmen would feel the sting of omission, marring what could have been a wholesome beginning for the MUN program.
