Howard Payne University’s 2020-21 Model United Nations (MUN) team was named one of the top 50 MUN teams in the United States and Canada and the top team in Texas by Best Delegate, a MUN education company.

HPU’s team was placed in the second tier of the rankings, which listed institutions placed 25th through 50th in the rankings. This range also included teams from Brown University, New York University, Stanford University, The Ohio State University, University of Michigan and Michigan State University.

The 2020-21 team was led by head delegates Madeline DuPré, a 2021 HPU graduate from Leander, and Jacob Lehrer, a 2021 HPU graduate from Midland. Other team members were Hallie Burden, a junior from Nederland majoring in social work; Joseph Lahmann, a 2021 HPU graduate from Killeen; Brooke Robbins, a junior from Kerrville majoring in the Guy D. Newman Honors Academy; Sierra Ross, a 2021 HPU graduate from Galveston; and Madison Tuck, a sophomore from Edgewood, New Mexico, majoring in the Honors Academy.

“Many other schools on the list have dozens of people applying to be on their Model UN teams each year,” said Dr. Dave Claborn, professor of government and MUN team sponsor. “These teams have first stringers who go to conferences, second and third string debaters who stay home, and coaches dedicated solely to MUN. Meanwhile, our team of six students continually showed up and performed better than many of these much larger schools.” 

Best Delegate provides in-person programs that impacts more than 3,700 students and teachers yearly, according to the organization’s website. Additionally, it provides web resources utilized by more than 750,000 Model UN participants each year. The organization has consulted with the United Nations and has been featured in the New York Times.

Visit www.hputx.edu/mun or contact Dr. Dave Claborn at [email protected] for more information about HPU’s Model United Nations team.