top of page

About COMMUN

Empowering Model UN Enthusiasts

GK6wVjfWgAA6VAl.jpg

Who We Are

Seven Michigan and one Toledo based Model UN (MUN) Conference organizations. These eight organizations joined forces as the Coalition of Michigan Model UNs (COMMUN) in 2025 to act as a coordinating body and forum for the region's MUN Conference organizers.

 

The founding members are:

  • The Black Swamp Security Councils (BSSC)

  • The Great Lakes Invitational Conference Association (GLICA)

  • The Metro Detroit Model United Nations Organization (MeDMUN)

  • The Michigan State University Model United Nations (MSUMUN)

  • The Model United Nations of the University of Michigan (MUNUM)

  • Oakland University Model United Nations (OUMUN)

  • The Southeast Michigan Model United Nations Association (SEMMUNA)

  • SuperMUN

The Model UN Landscape

MUN has existed continuously in the state of Michigan since 1973, but the number of conferences has proliferated since 2010. Similarly, the number of students participating in MUN has increased since the 1970s, peaking immediately before the COVID-19 pandemic. Immediately after the pandemic, the number of students participating in MUN decreased and only started to recover in the 2023-2024 school year.

 

Despite the region's long experience with MUN Conferences, the MUN landscape is disjointed. MUN Conferences are run independently of one another, often by university-affiliated student groups and independent 501(c)3 non-profits. Because of this, MUN Conferences arose as separate entities with distinct identities, and often unique policies, procedures, and processes for MUN. The vast differences between MUN Conferences can be disorienting for advisers, students, and parents as they continually relearn new procedures as they attend different conferences. Unlike high school debate, forensics, and athletics which have governing and coordinating bodies, nationally, and within Michigan and Ohio, there is no coordinating body for MUN.

COMMUN's Goal

COMMUN seeks to address the lack of coordination between MUN Conferences in Michigan and Toledo by creating a one-stop shop for MUN in the region and serving as a regular forum for the conference organizations to discuss conference best practices and deconflict between the organizations. COMMUN will clearly lay out the conference schedule for all participating conference organizations to allow for teams to more effectively plan their season. COMMUN will also develop and maintain training resources for advisers, students, and parents who have an MUN team or are interested in starting one. 

COMMUN also endeavours to make the region's MUN community more resilient by helping lower the barriers to participate in MUN Conferences and increasing the number of MUN teams. COMMUN seeks to address funding challenges that hampers attendance at MUN Conferences as well as seeks to identify and communicate process, procedures, and policy differences between the various MUN conferences. COMMUN does not work to erode what makes each MUN Conference unique, but tries to effectively communicate the differences so that advisers, students, and parents can make an informed decision for their team and to lower the barriers to participate in MUN at each conference.

Permanent Representatives

Each member organization of COMMUN designates one or more Permanent Representatives, modeled after the structure of the United Nations itself. These individuals serve as their organization's voice within COMMUN, contributing to shared planning, resource development, and the ongoing coordination of MUN activities across Michigan and the Toledo region.

The Permanent Representatives are:

  • BSSC: Erin Weiker (Social Studies Teacher, Clay High School)

  • GLICA: Bill Moraniec (President, GLICA) & Kevin Mersol-Barg (Public Relations Director, GLICA)

  • MeDMUN: Mitchell Silva-Dennis (Founder & Secretary General, MeDMUN)

  • MSUMUN: Nat Swartz (Undersecretary General of External Affairs, MSUMUN)

  • MUNUM: Lauren Sprow (Secretary-General, MUNUM) & Markus Budweg (Deputy Secretary-General of External Affairs, MUNUM)

  • OUMUN: Landon Julius (Secretary General Emeritus, OUMUN)

  • SEMMUNA: Matthew MacLeod (Social Studies Department Chair, Bloomfield Hills High School)

  • SuperMUN: Brittney Laurent (Social Studies Teacher, Royal Oak High School) & Gabrielle Buttazzoni (English Teacher, Royal Oak High School)

Contact us

bottom of page