Pomona College President Dr. David Oxtoby, accompanied by Bertil Lindblad, Senior Advisor for International Initiatives of Pomona College, visited UN Headquarters on 19 September 2013.
Dr. Oxtoby and Mr. Lindblad were received by Maher Nasser, Director of the Outreach Division of the UN Department of Public Information, who welcomed Pomona as one of the newest members of UNAI and lauded its commitment to promoting several UNAI goals, including human rights and sustainability.
Mr. Nasser briefed the visitors about DPI's new educational outreach initiatives, including Model UN and the observance of International Day of Peace. DPI has recently developed a new online manual for organizing Model UN simulations. According to Mr. Nasser, the online guide details the structure, procedures, negotiation process and skills needed to conduct a simulation that accurately captures the essence of UN conferences.
Dr. Oxtoby and Mr. Lindbald were also briefed by the UNAI team about UNAI's recent activities, including activities carried out by its members. A selection of activity reports, submitted by UNAI members, are now available online. The visitors showed keen interest in UNAI's ongoing Classroom Conversation programme and indicated they would be ready to organize a series of conversations beginning early next year.
Pomona College – located in Southern California – is the founding member of The Claremont Colleges, a consortium of seven affiliated institutions that also includes Claremont Graduate University, Scripps College, Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College, Pitzer College and Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences.