University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown
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Model United Nations and Model European Union

For over a decade, students at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown have successfully participated in intercollegiate Model United Nations (MUN) and Model European Union (MEU) simulation team competitions. Pitt-Johnstown teams are reconstituted every year and are always eager to recruit new students. Each team consists of 8-to-15 students and a faculty mentor who works with the students to help prepare for competitions. In each simulation, the students act as the representatives of a chosen country, and their performance is judged based on being "in-character" (acting like a representative from that nation would), on rhetorical and debate-skills, and on constructive effort in resolving the problem under consideration. The goal of any simulation is to prepare and present a well-documented resolution that addresses and resolves the issue at hand and will be adopted by a majority of the delegates. 

Pitt-Johnstown has competed in MUN simulations hosted by other universities and colleges since 1985, including the national MUN at Harvard, the annual Dayton MUN, and the MUN hosted by Kent State University/Ashtabula. The MEU simulations are organized by the European Union Center at University of Pittsburgh at various locations in the Pittsburgh region. Participating teams come from other European Union Centers, including the University of Washington/Seattle, DePaul University/University of Chicago, and Georgia Tech University, and other active MEU institutions, including Franklin and Marshall College and East Stroudsburg University. In fact, the very first MEU simulation hosted by the University of Pittsburgh was held on the Pitt-Johnstown campus, organized and hosted by the Pitt-Johnstown team.  Pitt-Johnstown also hosts an annual Model United Nations for regional high schools (Pitt-Johnstown MUN).   

Last Reviewed: August 9, 2006