Rider Model United Nations Alumni Association "Together we aspire, together we achieve"

• The first team of the National Model United Nations was started at Rider College in 1968 by Dr. Kenneth L. Maxwell of the Department of Political Science.
• From 1969 to 1973, Dr. Chau T. Phan (then known as Dr. Phan T. Chau) of the Political Science Department joined Dr. Maxwell as Co-Advisor.
• From December 1973 to 2003, Dr. Chau T. Phan has been the sole Program Director/Faculty Advisor until his retirement.
• 2003-04: Steven Sutow, Adjunct Faculty Adviser

• From 1968 to 1973, credits were granted to participants under Independent Study, Pol. Sc. 490.
• From 1974 to 2003, 3 credits were granted to participants in the Spring semester under POL 295: Special Project in Political Science: Model U.N. (limited to total of 2 years or 6 credits, except for leaders who may do it for a third year as POL 490). Meets by arrangement twice a month from October until the start of the Spring semester; then meets regularly as an evening class for 3 hours each week during the Spring semester until the week prior to going to New York (always on Tuesday through Saturday before Easter).

• A total of some 300 students in 35 Teams have "graduated" from this experience. Teams sent to competition averaged 11 students per year (some students did it more than once).
• Even though the majority of participants were Political Science majors, there have been NMUN members and Team Leaders from other disciplines as well, including Accounting, Business, Communications, Computer & Information Systems, Economics, Education, English, Finance, Fine Arts, Foreign Languages and Literature, Global Business, History, Liberal Studies, Management, Psychology, and Theater.
• Overall, there have been 104 women participants, including 14 women Team Leaders or Co-Leaders. In 2001, both Team Co-Leaders are minority women; in 2003, all three leaders are minority women. In 2001 and 2003, the amjority of members are women.

NMUN has been the only continuous academic competition since 1968 pitting Rider students against peers (and graduate and law school students) from throughout the USA, Canada, Japan, Germany, France, and other countries of Europe. From such encounters, Rider NMUNers went away with the conviction that they could compete quite well against anyone from any institution. Evaluations of NMUN at Rider have been notable for the near unanimity by participants that Model UN was the single most meaningful learning experience they had encountered at Rider. This consensus was shared by honors scholars and average students, Political Science majors and other majors alike. NMUN remained over the years the most unique academic-cum-social learning experience for self-motivating Rider students.

Awards

Rider NMUN Teams have received awards in 18 years out of the 34 years of participation, including two "Best Delegation" and four "Outstanding Delegation" Awards. In 2000, The Rider won a "Distinguished Delegation" award, and in 2002 a "Honorable Mention" award.

Alumni

Among Rider NMUN alumni who have kept us informed, the largest professional group is lawyers, over 50 known ones, including partners, prosecutors, and judges. There are perhaps a half-dozen still in law schools. There are six known holders of Master's degrees, two Ph.D.s; three Vice Presidents of large banks, and several owners of their own companies. An effort is being made to collect data for a voluntary directory of NMUN members for our 35th anniversary homecoming on October 12, 2002.

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