The 1970s brought many new and exciting changes to the Winthrop campus, such as the transformation to co-education in 1974 and the first Model United Nations Conference in spring 1976.
Under the direction of Dr. Melford Wilson, political science professor, and Alan Rash, the first student coordinator, Model United Nations I was on its way. On April 14-16, 1976, some 200 high school students from North and South Carolina came to Winthrop representing some 50 nations to debate the issues of giving Panama the canal, seating Vietnam as an official representative, and giving the Palestinians a homeland.
On December 1, 1978, Ken Holland rose to the floor in the SC House of Representatives and hailed Winthrop College for the implementation of the new Model UN Program. The following year the Assistant Secretary General of the UN commended Winthrop's program as the best organized in America.
An early supporter of the new program was Geoffrey F. Bruce, Minister and Deputy Permanent Representative of Canada to the UN. Bruce was instrumental in aiding Rash and Dr. Wilson in the formation of the Model UN program at Winthrop. He accepted an adjunct professorship at Winthrop to help Dr. Wilson begin the program.
The Geoffrey F. Bruce Award was established in honor of his hard work to get the program off the ground. In his opening speech at Model UN I, Bruce said one of the major benefits of the Model UN program is that it "will help you immensely in deepening your understanding of international politics, of the United Nations, and of your own interests as Americans. You will come to understand the interests and goals of other nations."
The Winthrop University Model United Nations Program is unique in several ways. It was the first program of its kind to combine participation of college students and high school students. The college students, who represent the same UN Member States and serve as advisors to the high school students, are enrolled in PLSC 260, a 3-credit Winthrop course on the United Nations.
From the PLSC 260 UN class, students can enroll in a 1-credit Fall class, PLSC 362, to engage in collegiate competition by attending the Southern Regional Model United Nations Conference in Atlanta. Students can also enroll in a 1-credit Spring class, PLSC 261, and serve as a member of the Secretariat, serving as committee chairs and helping to run the following year's conference. There are also three paid positions for Secretary General, Director General, and Coordinator General, the Big Three Leadership Team, to help plan and coordinate the conference.
Since its inception, the Winthrop Model UN Conference has expanded to represent as many as 75 Member States. In addition to the original three committees, Legal, Political-Security, and Social-Humanitarian, a simulated Security Council was added. In addition, each year, a special committee is added as selected by the Big Three Leadership Team. Over the years, we have had the Model League of Arab States, the Model Organization of American States, and the Model African Union. In 2025, we added two special committees, G-25 and SIDS. In 2026, for the 50th Anniversary Conference, we are adding three special committees. In addition to the Human Rights Council, for the first time, we will hold two Historical Security Councils from 1946, the year of the first United Nations General Assembly, and 1976, the year if the first Winthrop University Model United Nations Conference, to pay homage to this historic year in our program.
This year, we celebrate the 20 years our program was run by founding director Dr. Melford Wilson, as well as the 24 years our program was run by director Dr. Chris Van Aller. Thanks to the generosity of our alumni, the Melford Wilson Endowed International Relations Fund was established to provide support to the Model United Nations Program at Winthrop University. In honor of the 50th anniversary of Model UN, our goal is to endow a scholarship fund in honor of our 24-year Model UN Program Director, Dr. Chris Van Aller. If you would like to support our efforts, you can make your gift safely and securely online in honor of Dr. Van Aller here.
To date, nearly 3,000 Winthrop students and 15,000 high school students have participated in these conferences! Thank you for your support of this transformative program!
