SAVANNAH – Savannah State University (SSU) students attended the 13th annual National Model African Union conference (NMAU), held February 19-22, 2015, in Washington, D.C. The annual simulation of the African Union was sponsored by Howard University in collaboration with the African Union Mission in Washington, D.C. and member state embassies.
 |
|
Students at briefing from African Union Mission to the United States. Front row, left to right: Kiara Mays, Alexandrea Vereen, Gabrielle Jones, Thalia Kennedy, Eddie Gontee, and Maurice Freeman; second row, from left: Hope Kelley. (Not pictured – Erin Jones, Raetavia Gibson and Jared Kolleh)
|
SSU students in the Model African Union course represented Savannah State at the conference and participated in the African Union simulation as delegates from the countries of Cameroon and Nigeria. The SSU delegation representing Cameroon consisted of Raetavia Gibson, Eddie Gontee, Hope Kelley and Thalia Gibson. The SSU delegation representing Nigeria consisted of Maurice Freeman, Erin Jones, Gabrielle Jones, Kiara Mays and Alexandrea Vereen. Jared Kolleh, Secretary General of SSU’s Model African Union team, served as the head delegate and chair of the technical committee on regional economic communities. Otilia Iancu, Ph.D., Model African Union Club faculty advisor and course instructor, also participated in the NMAU conference.
During the conference, attendees heard from Seraphine Manirambona, a policy officer for the African Union Mission to the United States. “Students asked Ms. Manirambona a number of important questions,” said Iancu. “The answers to those questions provided information that they utilized in the committee sessions.” Later that day, all conference participants heard the keynote address from Her Excellency Amina Salum Ali, Ambassador of the African Union to the United States.
 |
|
Committee Leadership Award winners on the Technical Committee on Regional Economic Communities. Left to right: Delegate representing Tanzania from California State University – Northridge, SSU’s Kiara Mays representing Nigeria, SSU’s Hope Kelley representing Cameroon, and Dr. Ikechukwu Ukeje, Faculty Advisor from Kennesaw State University.
|
In recognition of outstanding performance, Gabrielle Jones earned the Outstanding Delegation Award for her work as a delegate from Nigeria to the Democracy, Governance, and Human Rights Committee; Maurice Freeman earned the Outstanding Delegation Award for his work as a delegate from Nigeria to the Peace and Security Council; Kiara Mays earned the Committee Leadership Award for her work as a delegate from Nigeria to the Technical Committee on Regional Economic Communities; Eddie Gontee earned the Outstanding Delegation Award for his work as a delegate from Cameroon to the Technical Committee on Economic Matters; Hope Kelley earned the Committee Leadership Award and the Outstanding Delegation Award for her work as a delegate from Cameroon to the Technical Committee on Regional Economic Communities; and Jared Kolleh was voted by faculty to serve as the Rapporteur of the Assembly of Heads of States & Government.
