ALMA — A pair of Alma College student organizations excelled recently at regional competitions, positioning themselves well to win at larger events.
The Alma College Model United Nations (MUN) team competed at the Midwest Model UN conference in St. Louis, Missouri, in February, earning Alma a record four “outstanding delegation” awards, the highest recognition at the conference, and one “distinguished delegation” awards, the second highest recognition. Meanwhile, the Alma College chapter of the Business Professionals of America (BPA) competed in the Postsecondary State Leadership Conference for Michigan in Caledonia in February and won 28 total awards, including seven first-place awards.
For MUN, the “outstanding delegation” winners were:
Oussama Abouyahia, Sebin Im, Chloe Koupal, Toby Layson, Gabe Roof, Abby Thomas and Sasha Kiper Zhambalov, representing Argentina;
Marwa Assiad, Liudmila Budaragina, Mariem Hamdi, Claire Neeb and Robert Preni, representing Colombia;
Jackson Eelbode, Regina Galeeva, Jacob Keeley, Angelina Kytmanova, Ichrak Labidi, Filippos Mourikis and Jack Yodzevicis, representing Malaysia;
and Kianna Carpenter, Elsa Dupon, Mallory Fenskie, Helena Kucera, Emily Lanning, Karolina Pucek, Madison Ryan and Aditya Shankar, representing Senegal.
A full list of MUN winners is below.
This year, 2023, marks the 30th consecutive year that the team has received an “outstanding” award, and its 56th, 57th, 58th and 59th “outstanding” awards since 1994. This is the only time in the 63-year history of the regional conference in which one college or university has received four “outstanding delegation” awards.
“Our team’s historic, record-breaking performance, one of the finest in the 31-year history of Alma MUN, reflected a total team commitment to excellence,” said Derick “Sandy” Hulme, Arthur L. Russell Professor of Political Science and MUN advisor. “Winning an unprecedented four ‘outstanding delegation’ awards bodes extremely well for the upcoming National MUN conference in New York City.”
For BPA, the small business management team of Chloe Anderson, Sebin Im and Emily Patzkowsky; and the broadcast news production team of Marwa Assaid, Nirmine Karaouch and Chloe Koupal took home first-place awards. Braxton Lamey, Gracie Allen and Marwa Assaid took home first-place awards as individuals. A full list of BPA winners is below.
“We are extremely proud of ourselves, as this performance reflected a great deal of hard work and commitment on the part of every BPA team member,” said Sondes Gasmi, an Alma College senior student and president of BPA. “We consider this a benchmark in our team’s growth as a campus organization. A year ago, we had only four students, and today, we have 14 — and we’re doing great at the regional level. We look forward to seeing what we can do at nationals.”
The BPA team, advised by business lecturer Kathryn Armstrong, will take part in the 2023 National Leadership Conference in April in Anaheim, California. The MUN team, meanwhile, will travel to New York City in April to compete in the National MUN Conference.
MODEL UNITED NATIONS
“Outstanding Delegation” members (representing Argentina):
Oussama Abouyahia, Morocco
Sebin Im, South Korea
Chloe Koupal, Houghton Lake
Toby Layson, Washington, MI
Gabe Roof, Grand Blanc
Abby Thomas, Grand Rapids
Sasha Kiper Zhambalov, Russia
“Outstanding Delegation” members (representing Colombia):
Marwa Assiad, Morocco
Liudmila Budaragina, Russia
Mariem Hamdi, Tunisia
Claire Neeb, Newberry
Robert Preni, Westland
“Outstanding Delegation” members (representing Malaysia):
Jackson Eelbode, Macomb
Regina Galeeva, Russia
Jacob Keeley, Linden
Angelina Kytmanova, Russia
Ichrak Labidi, Tunisia
Filippos Mourikis, Greece
Jack Yodzevicis, Gaylord
“Outstanding Delegation” members (representing Senegal):
Kianna Carpenter, Traverse City
Elsa Dupon, Shelby Township
Mallory Fenskie, Midland
Helena Kucera, White Lake
Emily Lanning, Cincinnati, OH
Karolina Pucek, Germany
Madison Ryan, Rio Rancho, NM
Aditya Shankar, India
“Distinguished Delegation” members (representing Chad):
Chloe Anderson, Washington, MI
Khalil Chalouati, Tunisia
Anna Fedorova, Russia
Yassine Kraiem, Tunisia
Chloe Pace, Dearborn Heights
Emily Patzkowsky, Mattawan
Sandra Voskoboynikova, Russia
The following students received individual recognition as “outstanding delegates”:
Oussama Abouyahia
Marwa Assiad
Kianna Carpenter
Jackson Eelbode
Anna Fedorova
Mallory Fenskie
Regina Galeeva
Sebin Im
Helena Kucera
Angelina Kytmanova
Ichrak Labidi
Toby Layson
Filippos Mourikis
Chloe Pace
Robert Preni
Aditya Shankar
Jack Yodzevicis
Sasha Kiper Zhambalov
The following students received individual recognition as “honorable mention” delegates:
Chloe Anderson
Liudmila Budaragina
Mariem Hamdi
Gabe Roof
Abby Thomas
The following students received individual recognition as “delegate choice” awardees:
Kianna Carpenter
Jackson Eelbode
Regina Galeeva
Sebin Im
Helena Kucera
Ichrak Labidi
Jack Yodzevicis
Sasha Kiper Zhambalov
BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS OF AMERICA
Individual awards:
Fundamental Spreadsheet Applications — Chloe Anderson (2nd)
Graphic Design Promotion — Chloe Anderson (3rd)
Health Administration Procedures — Mariem Hamdi (3rd)
Entrepreneurship — Marwa Assaid (1st)
Medical Terminology Concepts — Marwa Assaid (2nd)
Health Administration Procedures — Marwa Assaid (2nd)
Meeting and Event Planning Concepts — Chloe Koupal (3rd)
Meeting and Event Planning Concepts — Gracie Allen (2nd)
Digital Media Production — Gracie Allen (1st)
Parliamentary Procedure Concepts — Emily Patzkowsky (2nd)
Ethics and Professionalism — Emily Patzkowsky (3rd)
Human Resource Management — Emily Patzkowsky (3rd)
Prepared Speech — Sondes Gasmi, Tunisia (2nd)
Medical Terminology Concepts – Sondes Gasmi (3rd)
SQL Database Fundamentals – Braxton Lamey (3rd)
Python Programming – Braxton Lamey (1st)
Java Programming – Braxton Lamey (1st)
Computer Programming Concepts – Braxton Lamey (3rd)
Project Management Concepts – Sebin Im (3rd)
Fundamental Spreadsheet Applications – Sebin Im (3rd)
Contemporary Issues – Sebin Im (3rd)
Python Programming – Syrine Ben Driss, Tunisia (3rd)
Entrepreneurship – Syrine Ben Driss (3rd)
Interview Skills – Syrine Ben Driss (3rd)
Team awards:
Small Business Management Team – Chloe Anderson, Sebin Im and Emily Patzkowsky (1st)
Presentation Team – Gracie Allen, Katlynn Bell, Sondes Gasmi and MiShaye Hearn (2nd)
Administrative Support Team – Oussama Abouyahia and Mariem Hamdi (1st)
Broadcast News Production Team – Marwa Assaid, Nirmine Karaouch, Morocco; and Chloe Koupal (1st)