Centenary Model Arab League team earns top awards at regional conference
SHREVEPORT, LA — Centenary’s Model Arab League (MAL) competed in Houston’s Bilateral US-Arab Chamber of Commerce Regional Conference the weekend of February 11-13. The Centenary team was awarded Overall Outstanding Delegation, the MAL equivalent of first place, for their performance at the weekend conference.
Centenary represented the Kingdom of Bahrain this year, a small, oil rich state that is a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Head Delegate LA Easley, a senior communications and political science major, represented the College on the Political Affairs Council and was recognized as the Outstanding Delegate for that group. Milla Reddick, a senior biology and neuroscience major and chemistry minor, and Jo Bennett, a senior history major and political science minor, represented Centenary on the Social Affairs Council and both earned the Outstanding Delegate distinction.
Nia Passman, a senior biology major and English minor, was chosen as Distinguished Delegate, second place, on the Environmental Affairs Council. The Centenary team also included Noemie Loiselle, a French exchange student majoring in journalism and history, who represented the College on the Special Council on Poverty and Unemployment.
“I am so grateful for the hard work this team put it to get a first place win against schools at least six times bigger than Centenary,” said Easley, a three-year MAL veteran. “Everyone else on the team was completely new to the program and had never competed before, so I couldn’t be more proud of their performance.”
The Model Arab League (MAL) was established in 1983 by the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations as an opportunity for primarily American, but also Arab and other international students, to put themselves in the shoes of real-life Arab diplomats and foreign affairs professionals. MAL participants are judged on their ability to represent the needs, concerns, interests, and foreign policy objectives of their assigned country. In the process, they deepen their understanding of the Arab world; develop valuable analytical organizational, writing, and public speaking skills; and prepare themselves for knowledgeable and effective engagement in the public sphere in their chosen fields. More than 2,000 students participate in MAL programs annually.
“Our students worked independently and collaboratively to research and prepare for this simulation in record time,” said Dr. Chad Fulwider, professor of history and chair of the department of history and political science at Centenary. “Despite most of them being new to the process, they excelled against students from other institutions and played leadership roles by their own example to others.”