2017 Fall

2017 Fall Press Release

Baylor MOAS Team Dominates Regional Competition

This past weekend, November 9-11, 2017, the Baylor Model Organization of American States (MOAS) travelled to Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas to debate policies concerning the Western Hemisphere along with other universities from Texas, Louisiana and Mexico. This model marked the twenty-first anniversary of the establishment of the model and included an academic conference, a mock trial competition, as well as a simulation of the Summit of the Americas. This year’s theme was “Celebrating the Cultural Mosaic of the Americas.” The keynote speaker was His Excellency, Ambassador Oliver del Cid, Belizean Ambassador to Mexico. Ambassador del Cid spoke on the importance of fostering diplomacy in perilous times. Ambassador Jim Creagan, the Eugene Scassa Visiting Professor of International Diplomacy at St. Mary’s University opened the conference by giving a short history of the Organization of American States, the oldest regional body in the world, and a tribute to the late Eugene Scassa.. Baylor students represented the country of Belize and Peru. They presented and defended resolutions that covered issues such as reducing the threat of nuclear weapons in the hemisphere, providing greater opportunities for smaller states to participate, supporting the Inter-American Convention against Racism, protecting vulnerable populations such as children and the elderly, improving civil education, and setting budgetary priorities. Students also worked on resolving a hypothetical crisis involving a breakdown of order in the Caribbean region.

Parker Wooden (junior History major from Houston, TX) served as Secretary-General and insured that parliamentary procedures ran smoothly in all of the committees. Emily Kleinburg (senior History major from Kempner, TX) and Sam Gostomski (junior, Philosophy major from Pipe Creek, TX) served as chair and rapporteur for the Secretariat for Strengthening Democracy (SSD). David Bryant (freshman, History major from Allen, TX) was selected to serve on the 2018 Student Steering Committee. Lawson Sadler (sophomore, University Scholars major from San Antonio, TX) won the election for President of the 2018 Model, and a faculty panel choose Rafael Silva Ramirez (junior, International Studies major from Querétaro, Mexico) to serve as Chair in 2018.

Other honors won by Baylor Teams included:

Selected by a panel of external judges:

Outstanding Delegation: Team Belize under the leadership of Head Delegate Brendan Smith (senior, German major from Lees Summit, MO)
Distinguished Delegation: Team Peru under the leadership of Head Delegate Clayton Jelinek (senior, International Studies major from Broken Arrow, OK)
Outstanding Ambassador: Brendan Smith
Outstanding Position Paper: Team Peru with contributions from Hannah Luce (senior, Accounting and Supply Chain Management major from Golden, CO)
Outstanding Resolution for the General Committee: Clayton Jelinek (Peru)
Distinguished Resolution for the Secretariat for Multi-dimensional Security: Lawson Sadler (Peru)
Outstanding Resolution for the Secretariat for Strengthening Democracy: Ross McLaughlin (Belize) (senior, Political Science and History major from Argyle, TX)
Distinguished Resolution for the Secretariat for Strengthening Democracy: Karen Pedraza (Belize) (senior, Marketing and Management major from Carrollton, TX)
Distinguished Budgetary Statement for the Secretariat for Administration and Finance: May Atassi (Belize) (senior, Business and Finance major from Syria)

Awards Selected by committee members:

General Committee:
Outstanding Delegate: Brendan Smith (Peru)
Secretariat for Multi-dimensional Security:
Outstanding Delegate: Lawson Sadler (Peru)
Secretariat for Strengthening Democracy:
Outstanding Delegate: Ross McLaughlin (Belize)
Distinguished Delegate: Karen Pedraza (Peru)
Executive Secretariat for Integral Development: Audrey Chisum (Peru) (sophomore, Communication Studies and Pre-Psychology major from Katy, TX)
Secretariat for Administration and Finance:
Outstanding Delegate: Makayla Gorden (Peru) (sophomore, Political Science and Anthropology major from Midland, TX)
Distinguished Delegate: May Atassi (Belize)

Joshua Hyles a Baylor History M.A. (2010) served as Executive Director for the model. Former MOASers Diane Frazier, Rob Bradfield, and Kelsey Shelton served as Summit judges while Manuel Muñoz, Seth Reed, Ally Gutiérrez, and Tyler Talbert judged Moot Court sessions. Dr. Joan E. Supplee, Lynn Professor of History coached the Baylor teams and participated in a roundtable discussion on “The Future of the OAS and U.S-Latin American Relations” at the academic conference.

For more information, please see: esmoas.org/academic-conf.html or contact:

Parker Wooden, Secretary-General
Brendan Smith, Head Delegate, Peru
Clayton_Jelinek, Head Delegate, Belize
Lawson Sadler, President 2018
Joan Supplee