The first official meeting of Tam’s Model United Nations (MUN) club took place in social studies teacher Luc Chamberlin’s room in Lower Keyser Hall on October 23. Junior Elli Goldberg founded the club after realizing that Tam had no Model United Nations program already in place.

“I started the club because I used to do MUN at my old school in Ecuador and was sad to find Tam didn’t have MUN, so I got a group of friends to help me start it,” Goldberg said.

MUN is a nationwide program in which students practice debate and diplomatic skills. Roleplaying diplomats representing various countries participate in several simulated Model United Nations conferences throughout the year.

“[MUN] gives kids a chance to participate in something that is totally of their own volition, that’s an exciting, real-world application of what they’re learning in school,” Chamberlin said.

Goldberg also believes in the value of MUN and founded the club due to her positive experiences with past MUN events.

“I got interested in MUN in seventh grade when it was a club at my old school and I found I loved debate [and]international relations, after my friend convinced me to try it,” Goldberg said.

Although Tam’s MUN program is new, Goldberg is hopeful that the program will succeed and Tam’s branch of the program will be able to participate in future conferences.

“We are going to register for Berkeley MUN and go from there,” Goldberg said.

Goldberg believes that the club will thrive with enough interest.

“The club’s going good, it looks like we have some legitimate interest,” she said. “It’ll take time to get all our registration and work done, but I’m excited that people are interested.”