A team of five Honors Program students from Wayne State University received an Honorable Mention Award as one of the 50 best teams at the recent National Model United Nations Conference in New York City. The annual gathering, which was held March 18-22, is the world’s largest university-level simulation of United Nations activity. More than 270 teams participated.

The team was organized last December, and members prepared for the conference from January into March. The delegates from WSU represented the African country of Cote d’Ivoire on an individual committee and helped draft resolutions for the simulated conference. During the competition, the team also met with a representative from the United States mission to the United Nations.

The faculty advisors for the WSU Model UN team were professors Sharon Lean and Timothy Carter of the department of political science.  Lean and Carter, specialists in comparative and international politics, worked intensively with the students in their preparation for the competition.

Team members in the accompanying photo are (L-R): Rami Zein, Dearborn freshman; Sean Bhalla, Toronto freshman; Pridvi Kandagatla, Canton freshman; Clarence Dass, Bloomfield Hills senior; and Kendall Calkins, Sterling Heights junior.