After ten months of preparations, the first ever Gryphon MUN Conference was a huge success!
Despite some genuinely British weather conditions, over one hundred pupils from ten schools across Santiago still were welcomed into The Grange School. Unfortunately one school did have to cancel their attendance due to hazardous travel conditions, but thankfully our MUN Secretaria were able to recruit several Grange pupils to replace them at the last minute.
The Opening Ceremony involved brilliant performances of ‘Ángel Para Un Final’ and ‘Un Amor Violento’ by our School band (Daniel Fuentes, Pedro Donoso, Macarena Peralta, and Juan Ignacio Garrido) before speeches by our Headmaster Mr Nicholas Eatough, Head Girl Emma Luksic, Head Boy Sebastián Vargas, and Guest Speaker Mr Milenko Skoknic gave the visiting delegate much food for thought.
Pupils were then split into six United Nations committees – Security Council, General Assembly, Women’s Committee, Historical Crisis, ECOSOC and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice – all chaired by our own Grange MUN Pupils. Debates commenced, points were made, arguments put forward, negotiations developed and continued all day Friday and most of Saturday.
By the time of the Closing Ceremony, it was clear that all of the participants had really enjoyed themselves. After an engaging speech by our Guest Speaker, the Ambassador from Ireland Mr Collum Hatchell, each committee gave out awards to the delegates who had improved the most, who had impressed the most, and who had performed the most. It is testament to the quality of the attending pupils that each school received at least one award.
Finally, our Secretary General, Franco Gherardelli, and Deputy Secretary General, Francisco Soto, thanked everyone who had worked so hard to make this event a success: our Guest Speakers, The Grange’s Senior Leadership Team, the Communications team, The Grange MUN Secretariat and Chairs, the prefects, Mr Raphael Melgarejo and the Library team, and of course our visitors. And now the hard work starts again as we look to start work on Gryphon MUN Conference 2026!
