Arez Khidr ’25 has twelve hours until the attack begins. Still, he remains calm and crafts a cunning speech about the situation at hand. Taiwan’s humble collection of ships, planes, and infantry face slim odds in a head-to-head fight against China’s oncoming fleet. Khidr, playing the role of President of Taiwan, looks at Louise Dellarco ’25, Taiwan’s Minister of Defense. He finds firm determination etched into her face. They both understand the stark reality — without U.S. intervention, their island is lost.
Meanwhile, in the real world, it is a sunny day on the National Mall. Tourists and locals stroll across the busy green space just outside the Lincoln Memorial, many wandering close enough to ogle at the students or small plastic figurines carefully placed on the grass. Some bystanders come close enough to overhear impassioned speeches or fast-paced debate.
The would-be diplomats pay no mind to spectators. Director of CC’s Competitive Communications Teams, Sarah Hinkle, and alumni chaperone, Zeke Lloyd ’24, designed the simulation to help the team prepare for the next day’s intercollegiate conference. Hinkle and Lloyd broke the students into three teams – Taiwan, China, and the United States – giving each delegation four structured rounds of debate and negotiation to attain their assigned country’s specific goals. For some, that meant peace. For others, conquest.
The delicate diplomatic dance associated with a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan in some way mirrors the contemporary, real-world tension between Israel and Iran. But at the outset of the conference, inside Johns Hopkins’ newly constructed Bloomberg Center, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Hemispheric Affairs, Melissa G. Dalton, shares words of warning. “Now, in the Department of Defense, we believe the most serious challenge to U.S. national security is the Republic of China’s coercive and increasingly aggressive endeavor to refashion the Indo-Pacific region.”
As eight students dispersed to five committee rooms for the conference’s first session, they felt the significance of these problems. The range of topics varied greatly from room to room. Beatrice Roussell ’24 and Britt Nerad ’26 worked in the World Health Organization as Representatives from Slovakia and Paraguay, respectively. Louise Dellarco ’25 and Kathy Büerger ’27, Slovakia and Paraguay, combatted climate issues with their resolution.
Zoey Rouche ’24, one of the team’s only two seniors and Secretary General of CC’s Model UN Team, won the Best Delegate Award in her committee. She played the role of Position 8 in a simulated re-creation of the 1945 effort to design a new international body. She led the effort to call it the Federation Interlocking Foreign Allies, or FIFA. Yuri Hrytsak ’27, won an Honorable Mention as a result of his executive presence in a committee tasked with creating international guidelines for the non-militarization and maintenance of space. And in the category of group awards, CC overcame stiff competition to win Best Small Delegation.
The team’s Block 7 training and simulated international crises acted out on the National Mall can account for only a small part of the team’s success. Through independent research and a constant, open channel of dialogue within the team, every student entered the conference with a firm understanding of their committees’ political nuance. In a three-day event featuring representation from prestigious universities like Notre Dame and New York University, delegates from CC stand out from the crowd as personable collaborators and formidable diplomatic opponents. And the delegation has three awards to prove it.