Students Participate in SUNY Model European Union

Fourteen Buffalo State students took part in this year’s SUNY Model European Union (SUNYMEU), held April 11–13 at the SUNY Global Center in New York City. This annual event, sponsored by SUNY Global and the Institute for European Union Studies at SUNY, simulates a meeting of the European Council to provide students with a better understanding of the EU.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the students,” said Muhammed Sumbundu a political science major who was interviewed prior to the event. “We get to discuss European policies with European students.” Sumbundu led a delegation representing France. “I play the president,” he said. “Other students play the finance minister and the ambassador.” Buffalo State students also made up teams representing Luxembourg and Latvia.

Students from several SUNY campuses met their counterparts from France, Ireland, Germany, Poland, Turkey, and the other EU member states that participated. The international students who participated represented a country other than their own.

At SUNYMEU, students discussed a number of topics, including humanitarian intervention in Syria; terrorist threats against EU nations; and youth unemployment in Europe. The students gained experience with negotiation, conflict resolution, public speaking, leadership, and small-group dynamics. They also met dignitaries, including Ambassador Carl Spielvogel, a member of the SUNY Board of Trustees.

Sumbundu, who will graduate this May, has been very active in many organizations at Buffalo State. He is a member of the College Council, and he is an intern in Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown’s office. “My end goal is to run for office,” he said. “My concentration is international relations, and the European Union is very unique because it’s made up of different countries working together under one umbrella. We live in a world where everything is interconnected. What happens in Europe affects what happens here in the United States as well as around the world.”

The students who attended were Mackintosh Barker, Theresa Brick, and Christopher Garozzo, who, with Sumbundu, represented France; Megan Connelly, Ryan Gadzo, Louis Guillermo, and Matt Hoenes, who represented Latvia; John Collard, Kaitlyn Marinelli, Alex Stitt, and Christina Zandri, who represented Luxembourg; Andrew Stange who worked with a team from CUNY City College that represented Belgium, and Jamie Diamond, who served as a member of the press corps. Brandon Standish, a graduate student in Buffalo State’s master of public administration program, assisted Laurie Buonanno, professor of political science and faculty adviser to Buffalo State’s SUNYMEU team.