The Model United Nations (Model UN) club held a Ministry of Magic Harry Potter simulation on Feb. 8 to help attract new members to the club.

During the simulation, each member in attendance was assigned a different position from the wizarding world. Some of the positions included British Prime Minister, Hogwarts Headmaster and Minister of Magical Beings. Participants portrayed these characters in a mock discussion of wizardry issues.

Each of the problems presented by the Minister of Magic, played by Shasita Paudel ’22, resulted in different leaders attempting to work together to create a resolution that would satisfy the majority of the participants. The problems were meant to take place after the events of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, or how the wizarding world was impacted after the Battle at Hogwarts. Scenarios included Dolores Umbridge escaping from Azkaban, the murder of a Hufflepuff quidditch captain and protests of house elves demanding rights. 

Paudel explained that fictional worlds, such as Game of Thrones and Star Wars, have been used for simulations before. “I had participated in several Harry Potter themed simulations in regional conferences before and thought it would be fun to try it here at Dickinson in an effort to bring new people in, as a lot of individuals I had spoken to at the activities fair are avid fans of Harry Potter,” Paudel said. 

 The overall purpose of the Harry Potter simulation was to bring new people into Model UN. “[The Model UN club] had been struggling to bring new individuals to Model UN, but this was overall successful with that,” Paudel said.

One of the ways the simulation differs from that of actual model united nations meets was that instead of placards, which are a means of voting, motions and points, there was the use of sticks as wands, which Paudel thought made the simulation “more realistic.”

The event was also attended by Cameron Graham ’21, who is also the Vice President of Model UN. He said that the Ministry of Magic simulation was their most successful in-house event in terms of participation. “We rarely get more than a six-person turnout, all of who are experienced members, so it’s really exciting to have as many new participants as we did.”

Graham also agrees that the fantasy and fictional scenarios for Model United Nations “can be a really good way to introduce newcomers who would find the more formal events too intimidating.”