Over winter break 15 students from Hamilton’s Model European Union club — as well as faculty advisor Alan Cafruny, the Henry Platt Bristol Professor of International Affairs — attended the 25th annual EuroSim conference in Wroclaw, Poland, from Jan. 5-8. Each year, the EuroSim conference presents a different topic relating to European policy; the topic of this year’s conference was European asylum policy and the development of a common European asylum system.
In Wroclaw, the 15 Hamilton students represented members of the delegation from Luxembourg (Keara Fenzel ’14, Scott Hancox ’14 and Jamie Monteith-Mann ’14) and Romania (Jack Boyle ’15, Xinyang Beryl Li ’14 and Maggie Whalen ’14).
In addition, Amanda Barnes ’12, Hannah Carlisle ’14, Samuel Doyon ’12, Christopher Dudley ’15, Neil Edwards ’14, Prianka Imanudin ’14, Jennifer Roberts ’14, Erich Romero ’12, and Alicja Zak ’15 represented various members of the European Parliament.
The simulation involved the evaluation and amendment process of a commission proposal presented by one of the participating schools and all formalities of process within the EU were followed. Students gained vast knowledge of the international relations within the EU and developed their negotiations skills. The program included a lecture series to complement the simulation, with presentations given by experts on European asylum policies and procedures.
Hamilton students engaged in the simulation with more than 200 students from 22 other universities from the U.S. and Europe. As a club activity, Hamilton students participated at the same level as students involved in classes specifically related to the conference, as well as law school students specializing in European law.
In order to participate in a conference of this caliber, the Hamilton team began preparing in late August, meeting weekly and working individually on the views of their alter egos. In addition, the students did mini-assignments every week to bolster their knowledge on asylum policy. At the end of the semester, these assignments were bound together by the Hamilton College Print Shop and given to the students as conference guides.
Previous EuroSim conferences attended by Hamilton College Model European Union include those in Buffalo, N.Y., Antwerp, Belgium, and Chester, Pa. The Model European Union team is fully funded by Student Assembly, the Levitt Center and the Office of the President.
