History & Political Science Students Participate in Model EU Conference

Written by: Kyle Weinsheimer, History and Political Science Adolescent Education Major 

From Thursday March 30th to Saturday April 1st, I attended the SUNY Model European Union Conference on behalf of Daemen University. The conference was held at the SUNY Global Center in New York City, and involved students from around the world, representing delegations of European Union member states. Most days of the conference consisted of debating policies, agreeing on agenda recommendations, and constant communication and compromise from all member states. All students were given roles prior to the conference, from their representative delegation, and were told to stay in character throughout the conference. Me and my colleague, Crystal Buchanan, along with Lisa Pastor from the University of Montreal, represented the delegation of the Kingdom of Denmark. I represented the foreign affairs minister of the delegation, Lars Løkke Rasmussen. Crystal, a political science major at Daemen University, represented finance minister Marie Bjerre, and Lisa represented prime minister Mette Frederiksen. Together as a delegation, we had to commit time and effort to quality research on the policies and ideals of the Danish government, and to make sure our research fit with each other’s. Each representative from each delegation was placed in a functional meeting to debate and come to an agreement on a certain agenda topic. The foreign affairs functional committee, which I was on, was tasked with discussing the EU’s policy towards the People's Republic of China [PRC], which resulted in very contentious and passionate debates. The outcomes of these meetings were very positive, and as time progressed all representatives worked together to reach multiple agreements and amendments to agenda recommendations of the EU. The Foreign Affairs Committee's resolutions included increasing domestic manufacturing in the EU while incentivizing lower industrial developed states of the EU to increase their manufacturing capabilities, creating a task force to increase intelligence on the PRC, and to increase diplomatic relations to ensure trade efficiency with the PRC. As a whole, the conference was very informative and a great opportunity to meet other students who were both very friendly and knowledgeable.

Kyle Weinsheimer (center) and Crystal Buchanan (right) represented the Daemen History & Political Science Department at the Model EU conference in NYC 

Downtown NYC picture taken by Kyle Weinsheimer

In addition to the rewards of participating in such an amazing conference, was the benefit of visiting one of the most beautiful cities in the country, New York City. This was maybe my second or third time seeing the city in person, and I immediately felt the culture shock of being in the economic and social epicenter of the country. The bright lights, the diverse masses of people walking the streets, and the birds that’ll walk right up to you to hang for a little while made me excited to be in such a place. Being in the city that never sleeps was an amazing experience and I am thankful for the opportunity to have made this trip to represent Daemen University. I am also thankful that I got to take this trip with a Harlem native, my co-delegate Crystal, who could show me around the city and crack jokes with me while we walked through the maze of streets to find the SUNY Global Center. In addition, I’d like to thank Dr. Tandon, our faculty advisor for the conference, for meeting with us to make sure we were on track, and to help arrange travel plans for the conference. While it was a lot of work to prepare for this conference, it paid off in the end with the knowledge and experiences I gained from this trip.