Randolph Model UN students win awards in 2014 conference

Randolph College students won several honors at the National Model United Nations Conference last week.

Randolph’s Model UN team was named an Honorable Mention Delegation. Also, six Randolph students—including five who were participating in Model UN for their first time—won awards for position papers that they authored.

“All the awards reflect the hard work and diplomatic skills of the delegates and the utter dedication to excellence of our two head delegates,” said Jennifer Dugan, a Randolph global studies professor and the advisor for the Model UN team. “I am proud of our achievements this year.”

Randolph’s delegation to the Model UN this year represented the country of Malta. The delegation included 16 students, including head delegates Jacob Lusczek ’15 and Samantha Terry ’16.

Randolph’s position paper award winners include: Sarah Terlizzi ’15 and John Vecchiettie ’14, who served on the UN General Assembly Third Committee; Tsubasa Wantanabe ’14 and Erica Quinby ’17, who served on the UN Industrial Development Organization; and Rickie Scott ’17 and Sebastian Ranasinghe ’16, who served on the UN General Assembly Second Committee.

These awards add to an already impressive list of Model UN awards. The Randolph team regularly brings home awards for outstanding delegations and excellent position papers.

Student travel and participation in the Model U.N. program is made possible by the Sheldon and Chrystine Hicks Endowed Global Studies Fund through a generous gift from Marilyn Hicks Fitzgerald ’68 and Michael P. Fitzgerald.

Model UN team represents Malta at national conference

Students on Randolph College’s Model United Nations team will spend this week in New York, where they will represent Malta in the National Model United Nations Conference.

Model UN challenges students to learn about the history, public policy, and culture of another country and then represent that country in diplomatic simulations much like actual UN meetings. During the conference, students present speeches, negotiate with students representing diplomats from other countries, and vote on important international issues.

Members of the Randolph College Model UN team speak with Carl Girelli, vice president
for academic affairs and dean of the College, during a practice caucus session. More photos.

Months of researching, writing resolutions, and practicing speeches has prepared the students for a successful experience, said Jennifer Dugan,a Randolph College global studies professor who advises the Model UN team. “I expect great things from them and believe they will learn much about themselves and the world of diplomacy," she said.

For more than a decade, the College’s Model UN team has proven its ability to train students in the art of international diplomacy. The team has won numerous awards for having an outstanding delegation and position papers. The team has represented countries such as Portugal, Senegal, Yemen, and now Malta.

Randolph College President Bradley W. Bateman participates in a practice caucus
session with members of the College's Model United Nations team. More photos.

Malta is a small, democratic island country off the coast of Sicily. It has significant social programs, such as universal health care, and it serves as a gatekeeper for immigration from northern Africa into the European Union, said Dugan.

The Model UN team will meet with the UN’s deputy permanent representative from Malta during the conference, Dugan said.

This year’s Model UN team consists of 16 students, including Jacob Lusczek ’15 and Samantha Terry ’16, the head delegates. To meet the delegates and learn about how they have been preparing to represent Malta, read the Model UN Blog. The students also will update the blog during the conference.

“We are all so excited to get to the conference this year. After months of painstaking work, we are ready to put our knowledge to the test,” said Terry. “We have a diverse collection of knowledge and experience in our delegation this year, and I know they will be highly successful.”

Summer Research students study courts' influence on civil rights discourse

As the Supreme Court of the United States has announced decisions on several high-profile cases this week, many people have been reading their judicial rulings and scouring the Internet for articles about the cases and the issues they addressed.

That is what this entire summer has been like for Penny Trieu ’15 and Connor Dye ’15, who are helping Vincent Vecera, a Randolph political science professor, continue research on the way judicial decisions affect public discourse by declaring civil rights.

People on either side of an issue might start their discussions based on the prudence of the policies they support. But if a court issues a decision that declares a civil right, the argument changes, he said. “Once you’ve taken the argument to the rights level, you have to respond with a rights argument,” he said. “With rights arguments, you can’t negotiate.”

But proving that idea requires studying the way public discourse shifts after a court renders a decision that defines a civil right.

Trieu and Dye each approached Vecera to ask about opportunities with Randolph’s Summer Research program. He asked them to take a part in his ongoing research by looking at court decisions on two topics. Trieu studied several state court decisions that concluded that individuals have a right to same-sex marriage. Dye explored Supreme Court decisions related to rights of gun ownership.

The students found news and opinion articles on the topics of same-sex marriage or gun control before and after the court cases. They classified each argument as being based on civil rights or based on other ideas.

They only recently amassed enough data to begin detailed analysis, but Trieu said there did seem to be a shift towards rights-based arguments about same-sex marriage after court rulings affirm such rights. (Although the Supreme Court issued two rulings related to same-sex marriage laws this week, they will not be incorporated into Trieu’s research because they did not declare a constitutional right to marriage.)

Dye said he saw similar patterns in arguments about gun control and second amendment rights. Other events tend to also impact the discourse, but only for a limited time. “Whenever there is a big tragedy, there will be a lot more arguments about regulating gun ownership for mentally ill people,” Dye said. “Then they turn off to another argument, like the rights argument.”

This summer has helped Trieu and Dye learn a lot about judicial rulings and public policy, but it also has taught them patience with the sometimes tedious art of research, as they each had to read hundreds of articles. Vecera assures them that the effort is worth the reward of approaching and answering important questions.

“The things that make research worthwhile aren’t necessarily found in the day-to-day action of it,” he said. “You feel them at the beginning and the end.”

Summer Research project looks for Middle East peace

Sarah Terlizzi ’15 and Becca Leo ’15 have a lofty goal for their Summer Research project: peace in the Middle East.

While they do not expect a major international treaty soon to come from their summer work, they are researching and brainstorming ideas that could contribute towards a peaceful end to the conflict between Israel and Palestine that has waged for decades. “We’re not naive about this issue. We know it’s not going to change overnight,” Terlizzi said. “It’s going to take a lot of work and a lot of time, but in the end, it will be worth it.”

Sarah Terlizzi ’15 and Becca Leo ’15 participated in Model U.N. this
spring, and now they are exploring Middle East peace opportunities.

Jennifer Dugan, a political science professor, and Terlizzi have been planning this project since Terlizzi first participated in the Model United Nations program in 2012. They invited Leo to join them because she studied the Middle East conflict extensively for the 2013 Model U.N. conference. The purpose of the project is to study the role that the U.N. can and should play in creating peace.

They have studied every peace plan or “roadmap” proposed for the region over the past 13 years so they can look for common concepts. They also are examining proposals that have passed in the U.N. to determine what types of proposals could conceivably be adopted. “Our ultimate hope is to come up with our own roadmap to peace,” Leo said.

Leo was fascinated to see ideas emerge as she examined the proposals. “There was no one who was more pessimistic than I after coming out of a whole semester of studying this problem,” she said. “But there are many more points of consensus among these peace plans than I ever imagined. That’s something really positive to me.”

Terlizzi, Leo, and Dugan are adapting the common themes they identified and adding their own thoughts, too. One idea they hope to incorporate into their road map is to have the U.N. Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) provide management for sacred sites in Jerusalem. This could protect and preserve holy monuments and locations in the city and alleviate some concerns of religious interests in the region, Leo said.

Next week, they will test their ideas by presenting them to two groups in Washington, D.C., one that represents Israeli Americans and one that represents Palestinian Americans. Those meetings will provide feedback to help them refine their ideas.

Terlizzi said her research has given her a more realistic understanding of what has caused the ongoing conflicts. Education is key to unwinding the animosity and establishing peace, she said. Leo added that economic advances and time will be necessary, too.

“As the younger generation gets to the age where they are running for office and being leaders, there will be less animosity,” Leo said. “Public opinion will change. It always does. We’re trying to see what we can do to help create public opinion flow in a way that would be positive.”

Model U.N. team wins awards at national conference

Randolph College’s Model United Nations team brought home honors from the national conference in New York last week.

Tahan Menon ’16 and Sarah Terlizzi ’15 represent Portugal
on the Security Council during the Model U.N. Conference.

Sarah Terlizzi ’15 and Tahan Menon ’16 were named the best delegation to the Security Council at the conference, and Nabeel Mahmood ’15 and Penny Trieu ’15 received the award for the best position paper on the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development.

The honor surprised Menon, but it added a great finish to an already-great conference. “I didn't even really know there were awards until the last few days, so I wasn't thinking about it,” he said. “I thought it was going to be fun, but I didn't know we were going to win.”

The national conference allows students from about 400 colleges to role play as United Nations delegates from various countries. After spending months researching the culture, politics, and positions of their assigned country, they attend meetings, give speeches, and vote on actual issues facing the world.

Randolph’s students represented Portugal this year. Terlizzi said that it was hard to get attention as Portugal on the Security Council, but she and Menon managed to stay “in character,” representing the views that Portugal would take on the issues presented to them.

Jennifer Dugan, a political science professor who advises the Model U.N. team, said the Security Council dealt with difficult topics this year, but it did not surprise her that Terlizzi and Menon were named best delegates. “They were firm and creative diplomats who navigated tough issues and entrenched positions with great finesse,” she said.

Dugan said that Mahmood and Trieu earned their honor of best position paper by crafting a paper that communicated their knowledge and proposed solutions with clarity.

Trieu said that winning the award added a lot to her first experience at Model U.N. “It made me want to do it again.”

“This year’s team worked hard and pulled in the same direction during the entire conference,” Dugan said. “We had the right balance of veteran and first time delegates as well as exceptional leadership in our two head delegates; everyone helped each other.”

Menon said that Dugan was instrumental in the success students had at the conference. “She drilled us really well for that conference,” he said. “She deserves most of the credit or recognition.”

Student travel and participation in the Model U.N. program is made possible through a generous gift from Marilyn Hicks Fitzgerald ’68 and Michael P. Fitzgerald and through the support of the Gravely-Hampson Global Studies Fund.

Model U.N. students prepare to represent Portugal

Fifteen Randolph students are prepared to represent Portugal in the National Model United Nations Conference next week. They will give speeches, advocate for Portugal’s interests, and make decisions with students from around the world in five days of sessions that test students’ skills in diplomacy and their knowledge of global issues.

Randolph is one of about 400 colleges with a Model United Nations team. Throughout this semester, the Randolph delegates have explored how

Meet the Delegates

Randolph’s Model U.N. delegates are introducing themselves and documenting their participation in the conference on the Model U.N. blog. Check it out!

Portugal would position itself on issues such as renewable energy, empowering women, and food security. Preparing for Model U.N. makes it a unique classroom experience.

“It doesn’t even feel like a class,” said Jacob Lusczek ’14, one of the head delegates from Randolph. “It feels like you’re getting together with a group of friends to talk about issues.”

Students participate in Model U.N. for a variety of reasons. Lusczeck, for example, applied for the program after he enjoyed, and performed well in, a mock summit in his world politics class.

Sara Terlizzi ’15 got involved because of her growing interest in international law. “This is an opportunity to learn about the law firsthand and see how it is implemented,” she said.

Students have been assigned to various committees where they research specific topics that those committees will address during the national conference in New York. Terlizzi, who will represent Portugal on the Model U.N. Security Council, said this immersion has really put her in the mindset of the country. When she hears about world events in the news she automatically begins processing how people in Portugal would view the event.

On Tuesday, the student ambassadors tested their preparation with Randolph professors and staff members who played the role of foreign ambassadors and asked them to explain and defend their positions on the issues. On Saturday, they fly to New York to face similar questions from other students who also have spent the entire semester preparing. On Sunday they will attend a reception at the home of Kathy Brown ‘76.

“It’s time consuming, but the time that you put into it is very rewarding,” said Lusczek.

“It’s an experience that you won’t get with anything else,” said Terlizzi.

Student travel and participation in the Model UN program is made possible through a generous gift from Marilyn Hicks Fitzgerald ’68 and Michael P. Fitzgerald and through support of the Gravely-Hampson Global Studies Fund.

New professor's research explores power of words in politics

If you want to parse the language of the latest political advertisements, Vincent Vecera will be happy to join the conversation. If you would rather talk about 1960s jazz music or more recent hip hop, he still would love to talk.

Vecera, a new political science professor at Randolph College, believes words become weapons in politics. He especially enjoys digesting political messages to see the power behind the words. “I don't really follow sports because politics is my sport,” he said. “Politics is the only sport where the trophy matters. The trophy is the order of human civilization.”

In graduate school at the University of Minnesota, Vecera studied the way language sways public discourse. He spent 3,000 hours reading newspapers from across the 20th century and recording the arguments made on a variety of legal issues ranging from abortion and gun regulation to rent control and marriage. He focused on how using the language of civil and political rights changed the discussion of those issues.

“What I showed in my dissertation is that the words we use matter,” Vecera said. He is now writing a book based on that dissertation.

His assessment of the current presidential election? It is more boring than usual, he said. “In one sense, the power of words has been decreased because there has been more material lying,” Vecera said. He predicts a much more interesting 2016 election with a comeback from the party that loses this year.

Vecera chose to teach at Randolph because of the spirit of community that he felt when he visited the campus. People around campus seemed to know and respect each other, he said. The dedication to the school’s honor code strengthened that feeling of community.

“Every college has an honor code, but I was struck by how, throughout my meetings here, people kept coming back to that,” he said. “It was a really wonderful testament to a culture here.”

“I always wanted to work at a small liberal arts college—Not only a teaching college, but a place that had a sense of community and values,” Vecera said. “That made my decision to choose Randolph, instead of a couple of other places, very easy.”

When he is not teaching or writing, Vecera has a passion for music. He listens to five or six new albums each week. He owns about 2,000 records, and he deejayed many parties in college. Some of his favorite genres include 20th century classical music, jazz from the late 1950s and 1960s, and underground hip hop, he said.

Since arriving on campus, Vecera has been impressed by how welcoming and warm everyone has been—and how warm the temperature has been to him since he is acclimated to Minnesota weather. He feels that he is in the right place. “A tenure track position at a place like this is, to me, like winning the lottery,” he said.

Karl Rove talks political strategy at Randolph College

“The issue in this election is going to be who has the most credible plan for getting the economy going,” Karl Rove, Republican political strategist, told a Randolph College audience on Thursday. “It’s going to be one heck of a general election to watch because it is very much up for grabs.”

Rove, who served as senior adviser to President George W. Bush, visited Randolph College for a day and spent time talking with local media, students, faculty, staff, and community members. He analyzed the Republican Primary race and discussed factors that will affect the general election. He taught students about the reasoning behind political strategy and made a few predictions, too.

Here are some topics he addressed:

Virginia’s importance in the general election:

“I don't see how the republican candidate is going to get 270 Electoral College votes without bringing Virginia back into the republican column,” Rove said. The state has usually cast its electoral votes for Republican presidential candidates, but President Obama won the state in 2008.

Rove said Virginia will become a battleground in the general election, meaning Randolph College students could witness some heavy campaigning. He named Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell as one wise vice president pick for the eventual Republican nominee.

Vice Presidential Picks

Rove listed several Republican leaders who he thinks would be good vice presidential running mates for any of the Republican presidential hopefuls, including Marco Rubio, Mitch Daniels, and McDonnell.

Rove then explained the George W. Bush’s selection of Dick Cheyney as his running mate. Rove tried to talk him out of it, he said.

At Bush’s request, Rove recited a long list of problems that would arise from choosing Cheyney, including public scrutiny about Cheyney’s health and criticism that Bush was leaning on his father’s reputation and administration.

Bush called him the next day with his response: “You’re right, every one of them is a problem,” Bush said. “Now go solve them.”

Religion in Politics:

“We are a nation that is very religious, compared to other nations in the world,” Rove said. “I think Americans generally want a person of faith, who believes in a greater being.”

However, Rove believes it is offensive to pick apart the details of a candidate’s religious beliefs. Particularly, he said media coverage Mitt Romney’s race for the nomination has focused too much on dissecting the details of Romney’s Mormon theology, he said.

“I think it has no place in American politics,” he said.

Tax rates:

Rove defended the capital gains tax rate of 15 percent because capital gains paid to investors have already been taxed at the corporate tax rate. The lower tax rates encourage saving and investing to create jobs, he said. He also pointed out that the Bush tax cuts, which have been extended during President Obama’s administration, lowered tax rates for all income earners, not just the wealthy.

People who create new products and services deserve to keep the fruits of their labors, he said. He specifically mentioned Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates for their technological innovations. “The country’s better because they did that. Because they had the courage and the dream to go do it, they deserve their reward. That’s what the essence of the American system is about,” Rove said.

Randolph College to Host Congressional Election Debate

Congressman Tom Perriello (D) and state Senator Robert Hurt (R) will debate at 4:30 p.m. on October 27, 2010 in the Smith Hall Theatre at Randolph College.

A panel will direct questions to the candidates focusing their questions on issues concerning business and the economy.

Perriello and Hurt are campaigning for the Virginia 5th District seat to the United States House of Representatives.

This event is sponsored by the Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce and Randolph College.