Johnson County Community College
Press Release
College Information and Publications
913-469-8500
Julie Haas, Director, ext. 3120
Peggy Graham, Writer, ext. 3425
Tyler Cundith, Sports Information Director, ext. 3122
11/28/07
Story by Peggy Graham
JCCC Wins Awards at American MUN
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – The Johnson County Community College Model United Nations team received an Outstanding Delegation Award for its portrayal of New Zealand at the American Model United Nations International Conference, Chicago, Nov. 17-20. In addition the team also received certificates of accomplishments for representing both the countries of New Zealand and Ukraine.
Sixteen JCCC students competed with other colleges and universities from across North America. Jared Hedge, Atwood, played a key roll in the team’s success representing New Zealand on the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and receiving exceptional scores for global dialogue, diplomacy and multilateral negotiations.
The team was led by Jenn Edmonds, team president, Gardner; Norman Decelles, executive vice president, Lawrence; Brandy Schmitz, vice president, MUN, Olathe; Sara Ash, Overland Park; Calvin Baumgarten, Kansas City, Kan.; Amy Pepper Cheney; Jerome Berndt, Berlin, Germany; Viktoryia Schnose, Lenexa; Stephanie Goings, Lawrence; Brian White, Lenexa; Joe DeNoon, Gardner; Trent Brining, Overland Park; Nida Fatima, Overland Park; Lois Grimshaw, Olathe; Wesley Barnes, Lawrence; and team adviser, Brian Wright, JCCC associate professor, political science, Warrensburg, Mo.
The JCCC team has won awards at the last eight conferences they have attended. The JCCC MUN team recently dedicated the JCCC MUN honors wall and received a onetime special recognition award for its outstanding performance during the the last academic year presented by the U.N. Association, Greater Kansas City Chapter, at the University of Missouri-Kansas City on Oct. 24.
More than 1,400 students participated in the AMUN 2007 conference, proposing resolutions and writing reports dealing with world issues. The conference helps students to further understand global issues and international relations in a forum that allows them to discuss global concerns in an atmosphere that is similar to that of the United Nations.
The JCCC MUN team is planning to attend the Midwest Model United Nations Feb. 13-16, 2008, in St. Louis, where they will represent Peru and Cuba and the National MUN Conference March 17-23, 2008, in New York at the United Nations where they will, along with Wichita State University, be representing the Philippines. The JCCC team will be in charge of the Metro Kansas City MUN conference for area high school students April 2, 2008.
