ILMUNC

ILMUNC (the Ivy League Model United Nations Conference) is a high school Model UN conference organized and staffed by undergraduate students at the University of Pennsylvania through the International Affairs Association (IAA). It is held each winter in Philadelphia, typically at a downtown hotel, and is considered one of the largest and most competitive high school MUN circuits in the United States, regularly drawing several thousand delegates from across North America and abroad.

The conference offers the standard range of committee types found on the major circuit:

• General Assembly committees (large, beginner-friendly bodies such as DISEC, SOCHUM, and SPECPOL)
• ECOSOC and specialized agencies (medium-sized bodies like WHO, UNESCO, or UNEP)
• Regional bodies such as the African Union, Arab League, or Organization of American States
• Crisis committees, including historical cabinets, joint crisis committees (JCCs), and ad hoc committees for experienced delegates

Delegates are typically assigned to represent a country or, in crisis committees, an individual historical or fictional character. Awards are given at the end of the conference, usually including Best Delegate, Outstanding Delegate, and Honorable Mention, along with a Best Position Paper distinction in many committees.

The Penn IAA also runs sister conferences, including ILMUNC India and ILMUNC China, which extend the brand internationally and follow similar committee structures adapted to regional delegate pools. A separate collegiate conference, UPMUNC (University of Pennsylvania Model United Nations Conference), is run by the same parent organization in the fall and targets university delegations rather than high school teams.

ILMUNC is often cited alongside conferences such as NHSMUN, HMUN, and BMUN as a benchmark event on the U.S. high school circuit, and strong performance there is frequently used by competitive teams as a measure of program strength during the season.