Mercer University students took home several awards from two recent Model Arab League competitions. Fourteen students from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and School of Business participated in the Southeast Regional Model Arab League Conference and the National University Model Arab League Conference this spring.
The Mercer delegation earned distinctions in six of eight councils, and most of the students earned individual awards during the Southeast Regional, hosted by Converse University in Spartanburg, South Carolina, on March 17-19. The team also won second-best delegation overall.
At the National University event, several delegates received individual awards, including an award for chairing one of the councils. The conference was hosted by the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations in collaboration with the Institute for Middle Eastern Studies at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., on March 30-April 2. Participation is by invitation only and attracts institutions from across the country and beyond, such as Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
“I have served as the faculty adviser to the Model Arab League Program for 20 years, and every year our students continue to improve and impress,” said Dr. Eimad Houry, Mercer professor of political science, director of international affairs and co-director of the religion and public diplomacy program. “The competition can be intense, but what I am most proud of is that our delegates arrived prepared and accurately represented the policy positions of the country we are assigned. This is the result of months of preparation and meetings where we rehearsed parliamentary procedures and discussed the substance of the issues included on the agenda for the year. Students have always spoken highly of the experience, and almost all repeat for several years during their time at Mercer.”
Mercer’s delegation this year included Omer Alfalahi, Rachel-Kate Bowdler, Gabrielle Bibb, Chrishawn Chapelle, Gabrielle Chisholm, Jordyn Hardaway, Cheyenne Kamau, Alexander “JP” Lutz (head delegate), Brandon Miley, Niyati Patel, Isabella Rhone, Jada Robinson, Mary Sheffield and Benjamin Sprayberry.
For the 2022-23 competition cycle, the Mercer delegation represented the Republic of Tunisia and had the opportunity to visit the Tunisian Embassy in Washington, D.C., and receive a debriefing from the mission’s attaché on cultural and educational outreach. Mercer will represent Palestine for the 2023-24 competition cycle.
Established in 1983, Model Arab League is the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations’ flagship Youth Leadership Development Program. Model Arab League events are similar in organization and format to the older and more widely recognized Model United Nations, with its 193 member states. An important difference between the two is that the Model Arab League focuses only on the 22 member states that comprise the League of Arab States.
About Mercer University
Founded in 1833, Mercer University is a dynamic and comprehensive center of undergraduate, graduate and professional education. With approximately 9,000 students enrolled in 12 schools and colleges, on major campuses in Macon and Atlanta; medical school sites in Macon, Savannah and Columbus; and at regional academic centers in Henry and Douglas counties, Mercer is ranked among the top tier of national research universities by U.S. News & World Report. The Mercer Health Sciences Center includes the University’s School of Medicine and Colleges of Nursing, Health Professions and Pharmacy. Mercer is affiliated with five teaching hospitals – Atrium Health Navicent The Medical Center and Piedmont Macon Medical Center in Macon; Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah; and Piedmont Columbus Regional Hospital and St. Francis-Emory Healthcare in Columbus. The University also has an educational partnership with Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins. It operates an academic press and a performing arts center in Macon and an engineering research center in Warner Robins. Mercer Medicine, the clinical faculty practice of the School of Medicine, is based in Macon and operates additional clinics in Sumter, Peach, Clay, Putnam and Harris counties. Mercer is one of only 293 institutions nationwide to shelter a chapter of The Phi Beta Kappa Society, the nation’s most prestigious academic honor society; one of eight institutions to hold membership in the Georgia Research Alliance; and the only private university in Georgia to field an NCAA Division I athletic program. For more information, visit mercer.edu.
