MUN: a New APAC Activity?

Have you heard of the new controversy surrounding MUN being a possible APAC activity? I talked to a few students who have either attended a past conference or are looking forward to joining this year. I interviewed a few juniors (who prefer to remain anonymous) that were delegates of MUN and Mr. Elliott (Athletics and Activities Director). However, only two of the three students are returning to the new season of MUN. In previous years, members of MUN were not required to participate in every single meeting; in fact, most APAC athletes rarely attended meetings as practice takes up 4 days of the school week. This year, however, there is a new change regarding participation in meetings: delegates are required to attend the meetings every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.

Meetings must be held 3 days a week in order to be considered an APAC level activity, which is why these changes have been made to MUN. While some may consider it beneficial, many of the members disagree. Many participants of MUN are APAC athletes, who are required to go to practice 4 days a week. With this new rule, APAC athletes who compete the same season as MUN must choose between the two. If athletes are in all 3 sport seasons, they will be unable to participate in MUN at all.

Lisa M., a junior, is not able to participate in the new season of MUN as she is on the varsity volleyball team. She says, “I’m not too happy that I’m not able to go to SEOMUN as an AISG MUN officer because I’ve attended that conference twice before,” and that it is a “bad thing for athletes in the first season because SEOMUN is the better and more challenging conference.” However, she believes that “it’s a good thing for delegates who want to be fully and solely dedicated to the MUN program.”

This new regulation not only affects APAC athletes, but other students as well. One junior says, “we were all confused as to why MUN even has to be an APAC level activity,” and was “thinking about quitting MUN because of the number of meetings.” Another returning member of MUN believes that it is “quite pointless” and notes that “people are quitting because of the three meetings per week.”

On the other hand, Mr. Elliott says, “We were hoping to give more people a chance to be in MUN.” and that he knew this change would cause some students to have to make a choice between doing a sport or joining MUN. He says, “By having 3 day a week practices, people would be more prepared and more serious about it.” He also states that MUN is not an APAC activity, it is just becoming an APAC level activity.

While many students clearly show some level of disapproval for the same reason, a lot of thought went behind making the decision. With this new regulation, MUN has lost some valuable and passionate members, however, it has given more students an opportunity to join MUN and improve their skills. What do you think? Comment your thoughts down below.