Student Laura Di Girolamo Wins Honorable Mention at Harvard's WMUN

Student Laura Di Girolamo, a Political Science major from Chile, won an Honorable Mention at Harvard’s World Model United Nations, held in Rome on March 14-18. Every year over 2,500 university students from more than 115 countries attend WorldMUN in a different location around the world. This year, John Cabot University’s Model United Nations (JCU MUN) Society attended the conference.

Laura Di Girolamo

The event was opened with a ceremony in the Palazzo dei Congressi, attended by Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, where Pope Francis spoke to the students of the conference. All of the WorldMUN debates were then held in the Sheraton Hotel, near Fiumicino Airport.

At the start of the debates, students were separated into committees and assigned topics. Di Girolamo was given the role of delegate in the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States Committee and had the task of representing Brazil. Her committee’s topic was Human Trafficking in the Caribbean and Latin America. “We devised a resolution that outlined a data sharing plan, a strict enforcement and penalization for traffickers, and a rehabilitation for victims. It took a lot of negotiation, but in the end the resolution was successful,” said Di Girolamo.

Di Girolamo was excited to receive the Honorable Mention at Harvard’s WorldMUN. She said, “I was happy to represent JCU in such an international environment. I also felt proud because our delegates were among the most well-prepared. The award made all of the sleepless nights and early morning preparations worth it in the end.”

For those students who want to pursue diplomacy or simply learn more about the United Nations, Di Girolamo recommends joining the JCU MUN. “It prepares me for the future in terms of my debating and negotiation skills,” she said. “JCU MUN Society provides me with an opportunity to talk about the things I am interested in with a group of people who share my same passion.”

Learn more about John Cabot University’s Model United Nations Society