Students Debate, Legislate, and Earn Recognition at Harvard Model Congress

The annual conference is organized and run by Harvard University undergraduates, and every year about 1,500 high school students from around the nation and the world come to the conference to learn about how the federal government of the United States works, or, at least, how it is supposed to work.

                
During the four-day conference, each delegate sits on a specific committee, usually portraying an actual member of the U.S. government. For example, Groton Model UN/Congress co-head Land Tantichot ’18 portrayed current Republican Senator Deb Fischer of Nebraska on the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, which discussed several topics, including privatization of U.S. space exploration. 

In all, Groton delegates portrayed four members of the U.S. Senate, four members of the House of Representatives, two members of the National Economics Council, and one governor. The students had been preparing for the conference since December by conducting extensive research on their assigned individuals and topics. 

At the conference’s closing ceremony, five Groton delegates earned awards for their impressive contributions to their committees. In a Groton first, Brooks Anderson ‘20 won the award for Best Delegate on his committee for his portrayal of Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. 

Several students earned honorable mentions: Jake Kissell ‘19, who portrayed Oregon’s Democratic governor Kate Brown on the National Governors Association; Kevin Xiao ’18, as former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on the National Economic Council (NEC); Katherine Brown ’18, as the feminist economist Barbara Bergmann, also on the NEC; and Phoebe Shi ‘19, as Republican Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.—Tommy Lamont, history teacher, Model Congress advisor