Marywood raised several national flags and welcomed international speakers on Oct. 22 for United Nations Day.

The Office of International Affairs, the College of Health and Human Services, and Marywood’s Fulbright Committee hosted a United Nations Day celebration.

Marywood celebrated UN Day by hosting an evening of guest speakers, a reading of the Universal Declaration of Human rights, a brief history of the United Nations, and a mock demonstration of the United Nations Security Council.

Students participated in the evening as national ambassadors for various nations, presenting issues before the rest of the council and debating proposals. Other students participated by wearing the traditional clothes of a specific nation.

Dr. Alexander Dawoody, associate professor of Public Administration, organized the event.

“It was the students’ enthusiasm itself,” said Dawoody about his favorite part of organizing the evening. “They wanted to be part of the project, and as they learned about the different countries, their politics, their cultures, and the dynamic of the UN Security Council … they were intrigued.”

The evening was filled with several guest speakers and musical performances in addition to the UN Security Council session. Speakers included Marywood faculty as well as speakers like the Kurdish Ambassador to the United States, Karwan Zebari, who spoke of how important the UN is to worldwide safety and security.

The evening’s various events made it possible for students to be interested in different parts of the night.

“I think I’m most looking forward to seeing a reenactment of the government,” said junior social work major Chris Grassi before the event. “I think it’s going to give me some insight into how government processes run. Being a social work major we have a lot of working with policies, and I want to see how that happens and how I can help that in my future.”

Junior social work major Kelly Schultz said she found other parts interesting as well.

“The most interesting part of the event for me was the ISIS talk. It gave me a lot of information to stop the heinous acts being performed,” Kelly said.

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