“Vive la France”- Grier Girls Take on the French Revolution

Bonjour! On Saturday, March 29th, the Grier Model UN team hosted a schoolwide conference centered around the French Revolution. In this crisis committee, delegates had to adapt as their characters would to events such as riots in Paris, Marie Antoinette’s sudden death, the spending of the nobility, mysterious illnesses (spoiler: dancing plagues), and more. Of course, croissants, baguettes, and cake were involved as well. 

The Model United Nations team acted as the committee’s Secretariat, the group responsible for running the conference. Secretary General of the club, Sara Velez Patiño, was chair (the proctor of debate), while Natalie Kelsey and Palmer Kellog were her co-chairs. Lucy Buchanan, Rachael Brown, Sydney Smith, and Juliet Harris worked as crisis staff, coming up with events for the committee to adapt to, taking crisis notes (delegates writing to crisis staff as their characters), and giving the chair and delegates crisis updates. “Crisis was very informative and gave another point of view,” said junior Sydney Smith.

Club Advisors, Mr. Packnick and Ms. Brandebura, provided French snacks, helped answer questions for delegates new to Model UN, and oversaw the committee. The conference was held in the library, which was decorated with French flags and set up like a small-scale United Nations Assembly Hall. “Overall, it went very smoothly,” said Ms. Brandebura. “It was a learning experience, but a successful one.” 

Delegates crafted a new constitutional monarchy for France, passed policy on public health and sanitation of Paris, sold Marie Antoinette’s belongings to counteract the nation’s deficit, taxed the monarchy to prevent overspending on luxuries, and invented the Guillotine. Senior Aranza Alcala invented the “Big Mama” machine, a rival device to the Guillotine. Delegates were outstanding and made a lot of progress in the committee. Sophomore Pia Rock won “Best Delegate” for her efforts, with seniors Kylie Willier and Aranza Alcala taking home “Outstanding Delegate” and “Distinguished Delegate” awards.

Both experienced delegates and those new to Model UN had a great time being involved in debate and discussing solutions to the world’s problems. “The conference was great,” said junior Sarah Kuntz, a member of the Model UN club who has participated in other conferences. “I think everyone had fun and learned a lot. With everyone being new to Model UN, it created a calm and pressure-free environment, so the delegates just bonded and learned together. I had a good experience, and I love Model UN!”

Overall, Grier’s French Revolution Model UN Conference, also known as GMUNII (Jee-muhn-ee), was a learning experience for new delegates, a new tradition for the GMUN club, and a way for people to communicate and think diplomatically. “It’s always great to see students have fun and learn about public speech in conferences, and it was even more amazing to see how excited everyone was to host the committee,” said Mr. Packnick, head advisor of the club. “This is the start of many more GMUN conferences.”