The Awards Ceremony is the formal closing event of most Model United Nations conferences, held after committees adjourn on the final day. Chairs and the secretariat publicly announce individual delegate awards and, at many conferences, delegation-wide honors based on aggregate performance across committees.
Typical individual award tiers, in descending order, include:
- Best Delegate (sometimes called Gavel) — the top performer in a committee.
- Outstanding Delegate — usually the second tier, occasionally awarded to multiple delegates.
- Honorable Mention — a third tier recognizing strong participation.
- Verbal Commendation or Verbal Mention — non-trophy recognition called out by the chair.
- Best Position Paper — a separate award judged before committee begins.
Criteria vary by circuit but generally weigh diplomacy, accuracy to the assigned country's policy, quality of speeches, negotiation and bloc-building, contribution to working papers and draft resolutions, and adherence to parliamentary procedure. Many conferences explicitly penalize aggressive or "power-delegate" behavior, and crisis committees additionally evaluate the creativity and feasibility of directives and personal arcs.
Delegation awards — such as Best Large Delegation, Best Small Delegation, and Outstanding Delegation — are typically calculated by point totals or weighted formulas that account for delegation size. Major North American conferences known for competitive awards ceremonies include Harvard's HNMUN, Georgetown's NCSC and NAIMUN, the University of Pennsylvania's UPMUNC, and the University of Chicago's ChoMUN; in the high school circuit, conferences like BMUN, ILMUNC, and HMUN follow similar formats.
Awards are usually non-binding recognitions with no UN affiliation, but they carry weight in collegiate Model UN rankings published by sites such as Best Delegate, and strong individual results are often cited on résumés and college applications. Some conferences have moved toward awards-light or awards-free formats to emphasize collaborative learning over competition.
Example
At HNMUN 2023, the closing Awards Ceremony in Boston recognized Best Delegate, Outstanding Delegate, and Honorable Mention winners across more than 30 committees.
Frequently asked questions
No. Model UN conferences are independently organized by universities, schools, or nonprofits, and awards have no formal UN affiliation despite the program's educational partnership history with UN bodies.
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