Mentor Model UN Hosts Its Ninth Annual Crisis Conference

Students at MHSMUN IX Dive Into a World Reshaped By Leadership

Ayesha Faruki, Editor

November 3, 2025

MHSMUN IX’s 2025 delegate award winners (Nick Payne & Sonja Marich)

While most students were happily sleeping in on the morning of Friday, October 10th – regionally known as NEOEA day – our Model U.N. team was working toward something better: hosting its ninth annual crisis conference.

Mentor High School became an epicenter of global diplomacy as around 90 students from Revere, St. Edward, Archbishop Hoban, Madison, Firestone, Laurel, Hawken, St. Ignatius, and Riverside tackled global affairs in a “Brave New World” dominated by unpredictable global leadership.

The Iranian Vice President of Women and Family Affairs gets arrested by the government of Iran. (MHSMUN Iranian Cabinet)

Delegates traded weekend plans for high-stakes diplomacy, diving into complex crises designed to test their strategic thinking, negotiation skills, and ability to work as a cabinet. Each student assumed the role of a national leader, collaborating to write directives, form alliances, and respond to both fictional and real-world events.

Opening ceremonies in the Paradigm featured a keynote from Marti Flacks, CEO of the Cleveland Council on World Affairs, who challenged delegates to think critically about the impact of shifting global alliances and the role of trade, diplomacy, and leadership in shaping the modern world. Debate officially began at 10 a.m., and the conference was off to a fast-paced start.

CCWA CEO Marti Flacks addresses delegates in keynote speech (Nick Payne & Sonja Marich)

This year’s cabinets included the China, Russia, Israel, Iran, Ukraine, Mexico, Canada, and NATO — though the NATO cabinet underwent a dramatic transformation into the European Trade Alliance (ETA) after the U.S. delegate defected to the Chinese cabinet. The geopolitical chaos didn’t stop there: several countries, including Iran, Russia, China, and Mexico, banded together in a bold coalition cheekily dubbed C.R.I.M.E., creating a tense but strategic counterweight in the conference.

Delegates faced attacks, trade disputes, and high-pressure negotiations while exploring how global powers respond when traditional alliances crumble. Unexpected alliances, strategic defections, and creative diplomacy kept participants on their toes, with everyone — from first-time delegates to seasoned chairs — pushing their cabinets to act decisively.

Mentor’s MUN team of over 30 students organized the event, serving as chairs, co-chairs, monitors, and runners, joined by a few students from the district’s middle schools. MHSMUN IX wrapped with an awards ceremony celebrating outstanding delegates and recognizing the teamwork, diplomacy, and ingenuity displayed over two action-packed days.