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MSU Texas students earn Outstanding Delegation Award at Model UN

MSU Texas Public Information
09 April 2026
3 min read

The Midwestern State University Model United Nations (MUN) team recently attended the national collegiate Model United Nations Conference (March 27-April 3) in New York. MSU Texas won an Outstanding Delegation Award, the fourth time it has achieved the highest honor at the national conference.

The Outstanding Delegation Award was earned for the way MSU Texas represented Greece. The team also won four individual awards.

MSU Texas MUN had the honor of being hosted by the Greek permanent mission to the United Nations for a policy briefing.

Model UN epitomizes the core mission of a higher education curriculum in that it is a multi-disciplinary activity requiring students to conduct independent research, critically examine a real-world problem, develop a solution, and then convince their competitors that their solution is the most effective. This high-impact learning practice requires students to utilize research, critical thinking, communication, and, most importantly, leadership skills. To be successful, students must speak publicly about their solution, build coalitions of supporters, and develop a written resolution that is then adopted by a majority of their committee.

Steve Garrison, Associate Professor of Political Science and Model UN adviser, said the interdisciplinary structure – the team is comprised of students from all six colleges - is

one of “our strong points and worked very effectively this year.”Rykir Evans from Computer Science served as head delegate.

Garrison said the student preparations had begun in the Fall with many hours of independent work, extensive research, and writing. The students created position papers to represent Greece’s position on key policy questions.

Shay Hayden (Chemistry) and Madisyn Butler (Mass Communication) won for their work in the General Assembly Third Committee, Abed Ali (Biology) and Evans won for their work in the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference. In addition to these accomplishments, two committees voted outstanding delegates by their corresponding committees. Hayden and Madisyn Butler in the General Assembly Third Committee, and Dylan Munguia (Political Science) and Tucker Smith (Political Science) were selected for their efforts in the General Assembly First Committee.

It was the fourth time MSU Texas has won the top honor, Outstanding Delegation, continuing a winning tradition.

“The student commitment to the Model UN conference is impressive, as the proceedings began with breakfast and typically did not end until well after midnight,” Garrison said. “To be successful, our team had to be present and actively involved in the proceedings. Achieving an Outstanding Delegation Award indicates that in each committee, MSU Texas team members were the leaders of the proceedings at each step of the process, a significant accomplishment given the level of competition.”

MSU Texas was recognized for the ninth consecutive year at the national conference, and in three out of the last six years, the group has earned the top honor.

“Considering that over half of the attendees are typically from outside the US and from much larger schools, this accomplishment indicates that MSU Texas students are leaders among their peers at the international level,” Garrison said.

2026 MSU Model United Nations Team

Model UN Team Roster
Name	College	Major
Abid Ali	McCoy	BIOL
Madisyn Butler	Fain	Mass Comm
Taylor Clark	Prothro-Yeager	POLS
Josh de Waal	McCoy	BIOL
Rykir Evans	MCCOY	CMPS
Shay Hayden	McCoy	Pre-Pharm
Vicky Hereida	McCoy	CMPS
Emma Kasza-James	Dillard	ECON
Dylan Munguia	Prothro-Yeager	POLS
Quintan Ringwald	Gunn	RESP
Tucker Smith	Prothro-Yeager	POLS
Myles Thomas	FAIN	Music
Giorgio Toffoli	McCoy	CMPS
Giulia Toffoli	Dillard	Marketing