The Model United Nations team won Best Large Delegation for the second year in a row at the Yale Model United Nations conference held online Jan. 20-23.

Although all 23 delegates placed well at the conference, YMUN was particularly special for junior Charlie Benton. It was his first time winning Best Delegate individually at a college conference.

“I was super excited! I worked super hard to prepare for it,” Charlie said, “and I worked super hard to strategize, work with other people, collaborate, communicate, and I’m really glad that the awards reflected that.” 

The YMUN conference is the last competition seniors will attend, including secretaries-general Saul Arnow, Katie Baffa and Alma Moskowitz and other seniors.

“Saul, Katie and I will not be attending any more conferences,” Alma said. “It was a really bittersweet moment because we were on Zoom during the award ceremony, and so when we heard that we’d won Best Large Delegation, we were all crying.”

Seniors typically lead preparation for more competitive conferences, and Alma said she enjoyed seeing her contributions pay off.

“It feels good to know that you were part of the reason why the team won,” said Alma, who also received a gavel for her individual award. “It was very nice to gavel on my last conference ever and to win Best Large Delegation. That was the cherry on top because the reason why individual awards matter is for the team award, essentially.”