Baylor Hosts International Model Organization of American States Competition
Eight Baylor students represented the University at a recent international Model OAS competition held on campus: (L to R) Maddie Jordan, Kenton Shieh, Nick Hernandez, Sam Joyce, Dr. Mark McGraw (team advisor), Julia Mendes, Matt Warrell, Andrew Chen and Molly Dagley
On November 8-10, 2024, Baylor welcomed more than 140 students from the United States and Mexico to campus when the University hosted the Eugene Scassa Mock Organization of American States (ESMOAS) Program’s 28th Summit of the Americas.
Dr. Eduardo Contreras, vice provost for global engagement at Baylor, kicked off the competition with welcoming remarks to 21 national delegations from universities from throughout Texas and Mexico. The Baylor team represented the Republic of Panama in committees that addressed security, democracy, and development in the hemisphere. The committees debated resolutions to manage transnational migration, access to drinking water, and keeping corruption out of elections.
Baylor student Sam Joyce (senior, international studies, Chicago, Illinois) served as the parliamentarian for the Summit. Nick Hernandez (senior, American studies, Navasota, Texas) served as the democracy committee chair and was awarded the Outstanding Committee Chairperson award for the event. Julia Mendes (senior, international studies, Hudson, New Hampshire) received the award for parliamentary mastery in her role as head delegate and president of Panama. Molly Dagley (junior, international studies, Houston, Texas) won the award for the outstanding resolution in the democracy committee and was recognized for her excellent work in committee. Kenton Shieh (junior, history, Cupertino, California) was selected to be the parliamentarian for next year’s Summit.
Other Baylor delegates were Matt Warrell (senior, international studies, Alexandria, Virginia), Andrew Chen (senior, Asian studies, Dallas, Texas), and Maddie Jordan (junior, communication, Tallahassee, Florida).
The Baylor MOAS team will compete in the Washington, D.C. Summit on April 7-11, 2025. More information about Baylor's MOAS program is available on its website.
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