{"id":435620,"date":"2026-10-23T05:00:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T05:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/435620\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T05:00:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T05:00:18","slug":"usf-bullsmun-incorporates-local-high-schools-at-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/435620\/","title":{"rendered":"USF BullsMUN incorporates local high schools at conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>BullsMUN hosted a weekend conference in the Marshall Student Center, expanding opportunities to local high schools. ORACLE PHOTO \/ NICOLE DURAN<\/p>\n

USF\u2019s Model United Nations team hosted a conference on Oct. 10-11, opening more committees for high school students during their BullsMUN IV event.<\/p>\n

The two-day conference drew 360 delegates representing 20 high schools, marking continued growth for a program that has hosted more than 500 students across its previous three iterations, according to the BullsMUN official website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Model United Nations, commonly referred to as Model UN, is an academic simulation of the United Nations and other international decision-making bodies, according to the University of Montana\u2019s Model UN guide<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

During conferences, students step into the roles of diplomats, policymakers and fictional figures to research global issues, deliver formal speeches, build coalitions and draft policy resolutions through parliamentary debate.<\/p>\n

At USF, the Model UN student organization counts 361 members and six executive officers, hosting weekly general meetings to help students strengthen their public speaking, writing and critical thinking skills while raising awareness of global affairs, according to the club\u2019s BullsConnect page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

BullsMUN IV was organized by the club\u2019s Secretariat, led by Secretary-General Janessa Wright, a senior finance major and president of USF Model UN, and Director-General Max Merchant, a sophomore economics major.<\/p>\n

Related: USF employees bring careers and college experience into local classrooms<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wright said planning for the massive event began immediately after BullsMUN III ended last year, requiring late-night shopping runs and months of preparation from the USF Model UN student staff.<\/p>\n

The event allows the university\u2019s team to share their collegiate debate experience with younger delegates in a professional setting.<\/p>\n

According to the BullsMUN committees page<\/a>, the conference features three main styles of debate: General Assembly, specialized or hybrid committees, and crisis committees.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love to put college students in a place where they can do Model UN, and high schoolers in this formal atmosphere,\u201d Wright said.<\/p>\n

When deciding on the conference\u2019s varied topics, the team looked for engaging scenarios that would challenge the visiting students.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe choose committees by if they\u2019re interesting, if they can form a good argument, [and] if they have substance,\u201d Wright said.<\/p>\n

The conference also offers optional committee workshops to help first-time delegates learn parliamentary procedure and strategy before stepping into debate, according to the BullsMUN website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For Wright, hosting the weekend was a full-circle moment. She participated in Model UN during high school, traveling to a conference at Harvard University, and said her favorite part of BullsMUN IV was interacting with the high schoolers and giving them that same opportunity locally.<\/p>\n

Merchant shared a similar sentiment about providing high-level debate experiences for students.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did one in Boston University last year, and it was great to get people to be able to experience things like that,\u201d Merchant said.<\/p>\n

For high school delegates who might be nervous about public speaking or the intense environment of committee sessions, Wright offered a simple piece of advice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re intimidated by Model UN, do it [while] scared,\u201d Wright said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BullsMUN hosted a weekend conference in the Marshall Student Center, expanding opportunities to local high schools. ORACLE PHOTO…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":435621,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-435620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}