2022 FALL
Baylor MOAS Team welcomes ESMOAS international competition to Waco
This past weekend, November 3-5, 2022, Baylor’s Model Organization of American States (MOAS) team hosted 18 teams from universities across Texas and Mexico. This was the 26th Annual Eugene Scassa Mock Organization of American States (ESMOAS) and the fourth time Baylor has hosted the competition. Students represented member states from the Organization of American States (OAS) and presented and defended resolutions that covered issues such as modernization and strengthening the OAS as an organization, connecting energy innovation and security to sustainable development, improving food and water security and accessibility in the hemisphere, and utilizing education to strengthen democratic participation. Alongside the MOAS competition, there was a Moot Court competition where eight teams presented a case in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) concerning the issues of right to family, adoption practices and the value of protecting indigenous culture.
In the MOAS competition, Logan Butler (senior, History major from Evansville, IN) served as President of the Model and was assisted by rapporteur Oscar Camarillo (senior, Political Science major from Irving, TX) in running the General Committee (GC) where Head Delegates debated. Logan Butler also crafted the crisis scenario involving human trafficking, drug running, and the Panama Canal. Baylor students represented two countries: Argentina and Chile led by Head Delegates Mari Benavides (junior, History and Latin American Studies major from Los Indios, TX) and Vanessa Cham (junior, Neuroscience major from Rockwall, TX), respectively. At the end of two and a half days of intensive debate and diplomacy in the Student Union Building, the delegates, their faculty advisors, and the judging committee convened in the Barfield Drawing Room for dinner and the awards ceremony. The Chilean Team received three awards. The judging committee recognized Abhi Puppala’s (junior, Biology from Waco, TX) resolution on food security in the Secretariat for Multidimensional Security (SMS) and awarded Katherine Henric (senior, History major from Blue Ridge, TX) the outstanding resolution from the Executive Secretariat for Integral Development (SEDI) for her proposal to expand research on the use of hydrogen power. Members of the SMS committee also recognized Abhi Puppala for his work in that committee. Other Team Chile members included: Kenton Shieh (freshman, History major from Cupertino, CA), Jazmine Fajardo (freshman, Political Science from Cape Coral, FL) and Matthew Warrell, (junior, International Studies from Alexandria, VA). Team Argentina also had success at the conference. Committee members from the SEDI committee and the Secretariat for Political Affairs (SPA) voted to recognize the work of Brandon Clarke (sophomore, Business Marketing and Political Science from Charlotte, NC) and Jasmine Miranda (senior, Sociology major from Houston, TX). respectively. Head Delegates on the General Committee voted Mari Benavides as the Outstanding Head Delegate. The judging committee also awarded her for her Outstanding Crisis Speech and gave her the prestigious Director’s Parliamentary Award. Other Team Argentina members included: Marilyn Gomez (senior, Health, Kinesiology and Leisure Studies major from Cypress, TX), and Alejandro Villegas (senior, Health Sciences from Dallas, TX).
Baylor had two teams in the IACHR Moot Court competition. Michael Jordan (junior, University Scholar from Harker Heights, TX) represented the petitioner with Samantha Joyce (sophomore, International Studies from McKinney, TX) as state. Benton Cleveland (freshman, Pre-Business from San Antonio, TX) represented the petitioner with Aanya Pidiath (freshman, Political Science from Hillsborough, NJ) as state. The judging panel, consisting of former participants in MOAS and IACHR competitions who are practicing lawyers from across the country, gave the Outstanding Memorial Award to Samantha Joyce, Michael Jordan the Distinguished Memorial Award, and the Outstanding Combined Memorial Award to the team of Jordan and Joyce. They also won the Distinguished IACHR Team Award.
There were many other former Baylor students who attended and helped make this conference possible. The Executive Director of ESMOAS is Joshua Hyles, who received an M.A. from Baylor’s History Department. Others sat on the various judging committees: Daniel Hoover (M.A. History), Dianne Draper (B.A., History), Alexandra Gutierrez, (B.A. Honors), May Atassi (B.S. Business and Finance major), and Arianna Gomez (B.S. Community Health). Many more served on the judging committee virtually.
The Teams were coached by Dr. Joan E. Supplee, History and Dr. Mark McGraw, Modern Languages and Cultures.
For more information, please contact:
Mari Benavides, Mari_Benavides@baylor.edu , Argentine Head Delegate
Vanessa Cham, Vanessa_Cham1@baylor.edu , Chilean Head Delegate
Logan Butler, Logan_Butler1@baylor.edu , President
Michael Jordan, Michael_Jordan1@baylor.edu, Moot Court
Samantha Joyce, Sam_Joyce1@baylor.edu, Moot Court