Harvard Model Congress

Last updated
Harvard Model Congress
AbbreviationHMC
FormationMabaho
Type NGO
Purpose Education
Location
Official language
English
Presidents
Atticus Lee (Boston)
Laasya Chiduruppa (Boston)
Atticus Lee (Europe)
Hiral Chavre (San Francisco)
Emma Jing (Asia)
Salma Boukoj (Middle East)
Main organ
Executive Board
Staff225
Website www.harvardmodelcongress.org

Harvard Model Congress (HMC) is a congressional simulation conference that provides American high schools and students abroad to experience the American government firsthand. HMC is run entirely by Harvard undergraduates; it is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization operated independently of the university.

Contents

Domestic conferences

Harvard Model Congress Boston, founded in 1986, is the oldest of the HMC conferences and is held annually in Downtown Boston. Each February, nearly 1,500[ citation needed ] delegates travel to attend. The 2025 conference was the latest to date with over 1700 delegates. Programs include committees acting as the House of Representatives, Senate, and Supreme Court, as well as other functions associated with the government.

Founded in 2001, Harvard Model Congress San Francisco is an American government simulation program based on the Boston model and the first conference of its type on the West Coast.[ citation needed ]

International conferences

Harvard Model Congress Middle East, formerly known as Harvard Model Congress Dubai, was founded in 2013. Harvard Model Congress Dubai 2013 took place at the American University in Dubai, UAE, from January 24 to 26. It hosted over 300 students from 11 different countries in its first conference.

Harvard Model Congress Asia (HMCA) was founded in 2004, holding an annual conference in mid-January (second weekend of January). HMC Asia was organized in Hong Kong. It has nearly 600 students from 19 countries on four continents. HMC Asia focuses on America's political system and international governmental institutions. The 2008 conference, supposed to be held from September 4–6, was cancelled due to rebellion in Thailand. As a substitute for the cancelled 2008 HMCA, the 2009 session of Harvard Model Congress Asia was held in Seoul, South Korea, from January 22 to 24. In 2020, HMCA moved to Tokyo for the first time. In 2021 and 2022, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, HMCA was hosted virtually.[ citation needed ] In 2023, HMCA planned to return to Seoul for its first in-person conference since the pandemic.

Harvard Model Congress Europe was founded in 1987 and holds an annual conference in mid-March. HMC Europe looks at institutions of international governance, including the World Health Organization, Group of 24, and European Commission. HMC Europe 2020 was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the 2021 conference was hosted virtually.

Harvard Model Congress Latin America was founded in 2014, holding an annual conference near the end of August. The first HMC Latin America took place in São Paulo, Brazil, from August 21 to 24 at the Centro Universitário Belas Artes de São Paulo.

Boston history

SessionYearPresident(s)Keynote speaker
11986Alan Crane and Neil MorganbesserU.S. Secretary of Energy John S. Herrington
21987Andrew Schmid and Jack Tsao
31988Theodore Lubke and Brendan Randall
41989Joseph Choo and Russell Wilcox
51990Ben Bisconte and Sandra Kahn
61991David Ackley and Emma Laskin
71992Henry Dormitzer and Keith Kaplan
81993James Doak and Mark Sneider
91994 Keith Law and Will West
101995Stephen Ko and Jessica Levin
111996Jonathan Finkelstein and Arvind Venkat
121997Daniel Feinberg and Lawrence Lee
131998Wes Gilchrist and Kristi Patterson
141999 Lanhee Chen and Adam Kovacevich
152000Benjamin Lanson and Anna Su
162001Amy Chen and Art Koski-Karell
172002Helen Gilbert and Beth Schwartz
182003Fiery Cushman and Lucien Smith
192004David Arrojo and Matt Ocheltree
202005Ramin Afshar-Mohajer and Julie Kobick
212006Isley Markman and James Paquette
222007Maura Graul and Laura Morris
232008Molly Barron and Hana Merkle
242009Meaghan Graul and Brittany Lin
252010Laura Dean and Glenn Alterman
262011Vasiliki Katsarou and Basima Tewfik
272012Jyoti Jasrasaria and Shohan Shetty
282013Andrew Shindi and Caitlin Lewis
292014Graham Wyatt and Eric Cervini
302015Delaram Takyar and Theo McKenzie
312016Neil Alacha and Jacob Steinberg-Otter
322017Tyler Olkowski and Jason Mills
332018Michael Geisler and Nida Ansari
342019Raquel Leslie and Nicholas Pagel
352020Kemi Akenzua and Cate Pinto
362021Will Matheson and Aidan KeenanAttorney General Maura Healey and Rep. Seth Moulton
372022Aidan Keenan and Katie O’MearaFormer Mayor Kim Janey
382023Nikolas Kirk and Ella Wesson
392024Raina Cohen and Matthew TibbittsRep. Gabe Amo and Carol Rose
402025Nahla Owens and Jack KellyUnited States Secretary of Labor Julie Su
412026Laasya Chiduruppa and Atticus Lee

Asia history

SessionYearLocation
CityCountryPresident(s)
12005 Bangkok Thailand Loui Itoh and Laura Morris
22006 Bangkok Thailand Ronnie Angus and Brian Coyne
32007 Bangkok Thailand Matt Vandenberg and Luke Langford
42008 Bangkok Thailand Christopher Miller
52009 Seoul South Korea Christopher Miller
62010 Seoul & Singapore South Korea & Singapore Mate Pencz
72011 Singapore Singapore Jacky Kwong
82012 Singapore Singapore Marc Steinberg
92013 Singapore Singapore Jeffrey Lerman
102014 Hong Kong Hong Kong, SAR Adam P. Ziemba
112015 Hong Kong Hong Kong, SAR Erik Bakke
122016 Seoul South Korea Zachary J. Lustbader
132017 Hong Kong Hong Kong, SAR Oksana Moscoso
142018 Hong Kong Hong Kong, SAR Melvin Woo
152019 Singapore Singapore Rachel Chiu
162020 Tokyo Japan Katie Rabinovitz
172021VirtualVirtualK. Taylor Whitsell
182022VirtualVirtualGeorgia Steigerwald
192023 Seoul South Korea Kyle Felter
202024 Seoul South Korea June Park
212025 Taipei Taiwan Stephen Norris

Europe history

SessionYearLocation
CityCountryPresident
11988 Luxembourg Luxembourg Alexander Shustorovich
21989 Luxembourg Luxembourg Gina Berardi
31990 Luxembourg Luxembourg Andria Derstine
41991 Luxembourg Luxembourg Susan Stayn
51992 Luxembourg Luxembourg James Fowler
61993 Luxembourg Luxembourg Scott Hemphill
71994 Luxembourg Luxembourg Nik Korgaonkar
81995 Luxembourg Luxembourg Daniel Bisgeier
91996 Paris France Ryan Hackney
101997 Paris France Steven Hill
111998 Paris France Mark Veblen
121999 Paris France Eric Bolesh
132000 Paris France Saloni Saraiya
142001 Paris France John Marshall
152002 Paris France Cathy Tran
162003 Paris France Ann Chernicoff
172004 Paris France Sam King
182005 Paris France Richard Tieken
192006 Paris France Miranda Dietz
202007 Athens Greece Carolyn Amole
212008 Athens Greece Awara Mendy
222009 Brussels Belgium Leslie Dyke
232010 Brussels Belgium Annie Shoemaker
242011 Brussels Belgium Alison Schumer
252012 Brussels Belgium Rachel Wilson
262013 Madrid Spain Chandan Lodha
272014 Madrid Spain Eric Chung
282015 Madrid Spain Zach Fields
292016 Rome Italy Laura Lynn Liptrap-Sandoval
302017 Madrid Spain Gavin Sullivan
312018 Madrid Spain Caroline Tervo
322019 Madrid Spain Aren Rendell
332020 Madrid Spain Jessie Rodriguez
342021 Virtual Virtual Melody Wang & Nyla Brewster
352022 Virtual Virtual Nour Abou-Hussein
362023 Madrid Spain Lap Nguyen
372024 Palma Spain Logan Kelly
382025 Brussels Belgium Atticus Lee
392026TBATBAChristopher Shin

San Francisco history

SessionYearPresident(s)
12001John Marshall
22002Adam Hornstine
32003Katherine O'Gara and Julie Hackenbracht
42004Stephanie Kendall and Michael Schacter
52005Michael Thompson
62006Shanshan Jiang and Katie Johnson
72007Jordan Boslego and Loui Itoh
82008Megan Srinivas and Jason Burke
92009Meaghan Graul, Brittany Lin, and Sam Roosz
102010Glenn Alterman, Laura Dean, and Ariel Stoddard
112011Vasso Katsarou, Basima Tewfik, and Ethan Amaker
122012Alison DiCurcio
132013Annie Baldwin
142014Andrew Sudler
152015Samuel Finegold
162016Peyton Fine
172017Maddy Nam
182018Andrew Badinelli
192019Nicholas Eynon
202020Nirav Sookhai
212021Trisha Prabhu
222022Michael Wallace
232023Matt Tibbitts
242024Nahla Owens
252025Andre Ramsey
262026Hiral Chavre

Middle East history

SessionYearPresident
12013Eric Cervini
22014Amy Alemu
32015Erica Byas-Smith
42016Rebecca Curran
52017Carlos Mendizabal
62018Benjamin Delsman
72019William Delaney
82020Lainey Newman
9 (Conference cancelled due to COVID-19)2021Claira Janover
102022Delaney Hurley
112023Samuel D. Lowry
122024Meredith Zielonka
132025Nabila Chowdhury

Latin America history

SessionYearLocation
CityCountryPresident
12014 São Paulo Brazil Enzo Vasquez
22015 São Paulo Brazil Oksana Moscoso
32016 São Paulo Brazil Rebecca Ramos
42017 São Paulo Brazil Andrew Wilcox
52018 Mexico City Mexico Jocelyn Hernandez

Logistics

Each year, around 200 Harvard undergraduates assist with planning and running the conferences.

For the Boston conference, the debate topic must be chosen by May. Updates to briefings are written and distributed to schools by winter, and issue summaries are also provided to the delegates. HMC 2009 was HMC's first-ever paperless conference. For the duration of the event, each year, Harvard Model Congress uses most of the Boston Sheraton conference space.