Claremont McKenna College’s Model United Nations team scored a blockbuster this year, making history at the Harvard National Model U.N. Conference, aka the “Super Bowl” of Model U.N.
The CMC team won the Best Large Delegation award —the highest achievement possible at the HNMUN event, which is the world’s oldest, largest, and most prestigious annual Model U.N. conference.
And, the wins just kept coming: The team tied their highest-ever mid-season ranking (fourth out of 100 North American teams); brought home a slew of individual awards at Berkeley MUN; and finished up Harvard WorldMUN in Manila over spring break with three first-place delegate awards, and the Outstanding Small Delegation Award, which placed the team at second in the world.
“I don’t think we’ve ever won a delegation award at both Harvard National MUN and Harvard WorldMUN in the same year before, so it's big for us!” said CMCMUN President Joshua Morganstein ’25.
Morganstein is savoring the accomplishments, especially the win at Harvard National MUN, as it was years in the making.
In 2017, CMC won the Best Small Delegation Award, granted to the best-performing team with a dozen or fewer delegates. Since 2020, CMC has sent a large delegation to HNMUN with hopes of achieving the coveted Best Large Delegation Award, but this year was the first year CMC was able to claim the top prize, competing against the best Model U.N. teams in the world.
The team’s effort was led by stellar individual performances from CMCMUN President Joshua Morganstein ’25, and Executive Board members Tom Inouye ’26 and Louis Layman ’26, who all took home gavels (the first-place award) in their respective committees.
Yet, the Best Delegation Award was a testament to a true team effort—an unprecedented team showing that saw 12 out of the CMC’s 16 delegates earn an individual award in their committees, multiple of which were earned by first-year and sophomore delegates.
“The team’s incredible performance at HNMUN is not only a reflection of each team member’s talent, but of their hard work, integrity, and resilience. The foundation of CMCMUN’s competitive success has always lain in our culture of uplifting each other and persevering through the activity’s inevitable challenges, a mentality that was on full display that weekend,” Morganstein said.
Training for the MUN team is rigorous, with weekly training sessions, group preparation before conferences, combined with social events, which Morganstein said are designed “to engender camaraderie and build an inclusive culture amongst the 35-member strong team.”
Strong performances at upcoming conferences at the University of Chicago and University of California, Los Angeles. could return CMC to the top five in the end-of-year rankings and perhaps even propel the team to its highest-ever ranking.
Nethra Mahendran ’28, who earned an Outstanding Delegate award (the second-place award) at HNMUN, expressed enthusiasm for the upcoming conferences: “HNMUN was an experience unlike any other. I am proud to call myself a CMC ‘MUNer’ and can’t wait to continue competing with and against the most high-caliber delegates on Model U.N. circuit!”
For Morganstein, the most exciting upcoming conference is not even a collegiate one. His attention now is on April 26 for McKennaMUN, when CMC hosts high-school MUN students. Having managed McKennaMUN’s 10th iteration his sophomore year, Morganstein noted the conference’s “important role in fostering the next generation of responsible leaders in Model U.N.
“The CMC team is excited to pass their love for it down to the next generation!”