Virtual HMC: Harvard Model Congress

  • Written by Saanvi Upadhyay ‘22
  • Edited by Kathy Wang ‘21

     Every year, Hun students who partake in Model Congress (HMC) travel to Harvard and stay there for four days and three nights. Coronavirus may have stopped delegates from attending the conference in person, but it did not stop delegates from attending it virtually.

     On February 19th to 21st, 20 Hun delegates attended Harvard Model Congress virtually, participating in many different committees including House Education and Labor, House Climate Crisis, and Senate Intelligence.

     The HMC staff did a great job in making the experience as realistic as possible; Sheryl Cheung ‘22, the President of a Model Congress at Hun, stated: “I think HMC went really well this year considering everything was online, and the HMC staff did a really good job with creating a collaborative environment similar to how it would be in person.” 

 

What do you do in Model Congress conferences?

     Students, who are also referred to as delegates, are randomly assigned a politician from either the House of Representatives, Senate, or Judiciary. Within these three, delegates are given a committee like Armed Services or Homeland Security. The delegate must act as their assigned politicians while advocating for what their states and party would want to see happen in that committee.

     One is also given a background guide for each committee which contains the summary of what the issue is, though delegates are expected to research their positions as well. For example, one may be selected to represent a random politician like Mike Lee, the Utah Senior Senator, in Senate Foreign Relations. They must research Senator Mike Lee’s views on these issues.

The Senate Foreign Relations, which was tasked to mitigate pirates in the Gulf of Guinea and fix the relations between Iran and the United States. Credit: Saanvi

     Over the course of the conference, delegates powered through with rigorous hard work to create effective solutions. They also got time to socialize with one another by participating in interesting seminars, attending delegate socials, and making new friends! During conference times, the Chairs who oversaw the committee also tried to get to know their fellow delegates and allowed time for them to talk to each other.

     Another benefit of HMC is that it enables one to improve their public speaking, writing skills, and confidence. If you are interested in attending Harvard Model Congress next year or in joining Model Congress, please reach out to the leader of the club, Sheryl Cheung ‘22 and Xavier Silverio ‘22, or Mr. Helvey!