The story is familiar to Georgetown students: the powerhouse team in the 80s slowly declined and was nearly forgotten as of a few years ago. A dramatic turnaround, however, has boosted the team to recent success. (www.bottomlineequipment.com)
This isn’t the Georgetown basketball team. It’s the International Relations Club (IRC).
While lacking basketball’s national reputation, the IRC has won its last three Model United Nations conferences.
At conferences, delegates in committees discuss pressing international issues, said IRC Conferences Coordinator Jasdeep Singh (SFS ’10), who organizes club trips. Judges determine the first-place delegate in each committee.
The delegation with the highest percentage of winning delegates places first.
The club’s recent victories are characteristic of its heyday in the 80s, IRC Chair John Tincoff (SFS ’09) said.
Singh lamented the team’s failure to acquire new trophies for the past several years.
“In our office, we have these huge trophies from years past, like U Penn Best Delegation in 1994,” he said.
The club declined and remained weak throughout the 90s due to a lack of member discipline, Tincoff said.
Recently, the IRC suffered from low member enthusiasm. Former IRC Chair Jason Hwang (SFS ’08) said that when he joined IRC as a freshman, club members didn’t take conferences seriously.
“When I joined, it was all about having fun, hanging out and maybe the simulation would be fun,” he said.
In the last few years, the club has become focused on motivation and pre-conference preparation.
To recruit new members, the club has tabled extensively and sent freshmen to conferences, Hwang said. As a result, members say new IRC members are much more motivated than in previous years.
“There’s almost an unwritten expectation … you’re expected to participate to the best of your ability,” he said
“This year, a lot of work has gone into preparation beforehand, making sure that our freshmen in particular have a lot of support from other members of the team and the staff,” Tincoff said.
