Rider’s NMUN 2003 Team Receives Honorable Mention

Rider’s National Model United Nations (NMUN) Team 2003 earned an Honorable Mention for its outstanding performance at the National Collegiate Conference Association’s annual competition held this month at the Hilton New York in New York City.
     Representing Malawi, a small country in southern Africa, the team competed against some 2,000 students from 200 universities and colleges from the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan.
     Team members researched a wide range of global topics, including the ramifications of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism, ensuring civil rights liberties in times of non-conventional warfare, and globalization and its effects on the role of the United Nations.
     “This was such a rewarding experience because our hard work really paid off,” said Sadika Jubo of Ewing, a senior political science/French major, who served as delegation leader. “Our team really bonded together and we regard ourselves as friends for life. I also loved the fact that so many young people from all over the world were willing and able to work on global issues that we currently face. This gave us all hope about everything.”
      Under the guidance of Dr. Chau T. Phan of Lawrenceville, professor of political science and director of the NMUN at Rider, the University’s delegations have been cited for numerous awards, including the top honor of being named “Outstanding Delegation” four times, “Distinguished Delegation” three times, and “Honorable Mention” 11 times with this latest accolade.
      At the close of this spring semester, Phan will retire from Rider after 35 years of service. Bart Luedeke, Rider University president, sees this year’s achievement as yet another clear indication of Rider’s stellar reputation among its national and international counterparts.
     “We should all take pride in the fact that Rider is well-known and respected for its efforts in preparing students to understand and tackle global issues,” said Luedeke. “The NMUN program over the years is a prime example of this effort.”
      In addition to Jubo, Guertalene Noel of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, a senior business economics major, and Chidinma Ahia of Yardley, PA, a senior interpersonal communication/political science major, served as Team 2003 co-leaders. The following students were members of their team:

• Katie Sebastian of Denville, a sophomore management and leadership major;
• Mike Shea of Frenchtown, a sophomore computer information systems major;
• Dennis Hester of San Angelo, TX, a junior political science major;
• Maria Lopez, an exchange student from Spain;
• Louis Harrigan of Levittown, PA, a junior business economics major;
• Jared Levinson of Yardley, PA, a junior finance major;
• Doug Tomson of Hillsborough, a senior political science major;
• Ryan Cohen of Clifton, a sophomore global/multinational studies/political science major;
• Melissa Sperrazza of Hamilton, a sophomore human resource management major;
• Melissa Andus of Staten Island, NY, a sophomore political science major; and
• Ryan Middlemiss of Ewing, a senior political science major.

      Next year’s team will be led by team leader Katie Sebastian and co-leaders Melissa Sperrazza and Blair Saxman of Bristol, PA. Plans are already underway to recruit members of Team 2004. Rider alumnus Steve Sutow, ’00, MBA ’02, president of the Rider Model UN Alumni Association and a member of the New Jersey Board of the United Nations Association of the USA, will provide guidance to the new team. Sutow was recently selected to join the Board of Directors of the National Collegiate Conference Association, the body which runs the National Model United Nations.

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