Hundreds of high school students in San Antonio to discuss Iran, other global issues

Model United Nations San Antonio, MUNSA, event hosts students at Trinity University

SAN ANTONIO – Future politicians, delegates or global leaders — those are among the career goals for some of the students who are part of Model United Nations San Antonio, known as MUNSA.

The organization is hosting several hundred students from across the nation Thursday and Friday at Trinity University for a conference aimed at discussing global issues. One of the big topics at the event included the conflict between the U.S. and Iran.

“It is a historical crisis,” Maya Mackey, a junior at the International School of the Americas, said.

Mackey said she has researched the pressing conflict in the Middle East. She said it is as important as ever for people to listen and have open-minded conversations.

“A lot of the issues we are seeing today is really because there is a disconnect and an unwillingness to engage in a conversation and I think that conversation needs to happen,” Mackey said. “And I think that’s why MUNSA and MUN are so important.”

Iran sends mixed signals as tensions with US ease

That’s the goal of the 24th MUNSA event hosted by NEISD’s International School of the Americas.

Around 1,000 students from across San Antonio, Texas, the U.S. and even Mexico are gathering at Trinity to delegate and debate global issues.

Each student from every school represents a different country. Throughout the event, those delegates will be meeting new delegates to hear about world issues.

“It is their responsibility to fully represent that country, not their personal views, but the views of the country and work with all the other country delegates in their room to form a solution,” Elias Hansen, a senior with the International School of the Americas, said.

At the opening of the event, students were addressed by the keynote speaker Dr. Sussan Siavoshi, an international affairs professor at Trinity. She spoke to students to give them insight into the situation in Iran.

US officials: ‘Highly likely’ Iran downed Ukrainian jetliner

Tatum Spriester, a junior at the International School of the Americas, said the timing of the MUNSA event will give her generation of future global leaders a better understanding of what’s going on in the Middle East.

“I think this is a really big tool that we can use towards fighting ignorance in regards to situations in the Middle East and anywhere in the world,” Spriester said.


About the Authors:

Sarah Acosta is a weekend Good Morning San Antonio anchor and a general assignments reporter at KSAT12. She joined the news team in April 2018 as a morning reporter for GMSA and is a native South Texan.

Azian Bermea is a photojournalist at KSAT.