Cal State San Bernardino’s Model United Nations team continued its tradition of excellence at the 2026 National Model UN Conference-New York, earning five Outstanding Position Papers in Committee and a delegation honorable mention.

The team, led by faculty advisor Anahid Modrek, representing the South American country of Uruguay, participated in the first session of the New York conference, March 29-April 2. The New York conference is considered the largest – it holds two sessions of the spring conference with more than 5,000 students from more than 100 countries participating – and most prestigious, diverse and longest university-level Model UN.

The CSUSB Model United Nations program is regarded as one of the best in the world – its student delegates have been consistently recognized for their excellent work at the National Model United Nations conferences. This year marks the 34th time the CSUSB program has earned honors at the New York national conference, a competition it has participated in for more than four decades. As with the fall conference in Canada, the team consisted of student delegates from both CSUSB and its Palm Desert Campus.

Modrek, a professor of psychology, credited the hard work and effort the students put in to prepare for the conference.

“I saw the endless hours these students put in working on their position papers and the support they had from head delegates,” she said. “I couldn’t be prouder of each and every one of them. Throughout the conference, the best part was seeing how well they all got along as a whole when we were out in New York. From start of the semester to end of the conference, I saw both their skill development alongside the memories they made with one another, which is what this is all about.”

Awarded Outstanding Position Papers in Committee were Priscilla Gutierrez (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean committee), Isaac Reyna (Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference committee), Nallely Alvarado (also in the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference committee), Laylah Morales-Murillo (United Nations Environment Assembly), Yunuen Cerano (also in the United Nations Environment Assembly committee). This award is given to recognize delegates’ extensive preparation on policy papers submitted prior to the conference start date. The papers are then submitted by head delegates.

The entire delegation was named honorable mention for its work as Uruguay during the national conference.

Prior to the national conference, Ahmed Mohamed was honored with an individual delegate award at the Inland Empire Conference for Model United Nations in March (in which the team competed as it prepared for the national conference). At IECMUN, which took place at Riverside City College, Mohamed represented Israel in the conference’s General Assembly Second Committee.

Student members of the CSUSB Uruguay delegation were: Robert Velasco (Model UN chair), Luis Lizama (head delegate, chair), Evelia Cruz (head delegate), Natalie Bom (head delegate), Isaac Reyna, Yazan Temraz, Luis Garcia, Alana Jollevet, Dana Baraka, Laylah Morales-Murillo, Yunuen Cerano, Dana Baraka, Maria Gonzalez-Frias, Zarai Lopez-Martinez, Priscilla Gutierrez, Sarah Ramirez, Roxana Monzon, Ahmed Mohamed and Jonathan Prado.

The CSUSB Model UN program develops the leadership skills of its student delegates who come from all academic disciplines, giving them a broader perspective of the world and a higher level of professionalism in their chosen careers. This semester, Modrek’s instructional curriculum, in particular, targeted speech development and discourse skill.

The student delegates prepared for the conference through most of the spring semester, meeting once a week for about four hours, learning about the structure and workings of the UN, and how, as perhaps the most important intergovernmental organization in the world, it addresses problems and challenges in the global community. They also developed skills in public speaking, negotiation, conflict resolution and policy writing – and how to do so in a collaborative effort when policy agendas might appear to be in conflict with each other.

The National United Nations Conference in New York City has its roots in the intercollegiate Model League of Nations simulation that was held at Syracuse University in 1927. The conference became National Model United Nations in 1967 and CSUSB’s Model UN students have been participating in the conference since its founding as first a club in 1977 by Professor Emeritus Brij Khare, CSUSB Department of Political Science, and later as an academic program by Professor Emeritus Ralph Salmi, CSUSB Department of Political Science.

Past participants in the Model United Nations program have said the simulations gave them real-life experiences in diplomacy and relationship building. Some program graduates have embarked on careers in diplomacy, while others have gone on to prestigious graduate programs, such as the Harvard School of Law.

Visit the CSUSB Model United Nations website to learn more about the program, as well as the National Model United Nations website.