President: Daniel Atherton
I am a third (fourth) year Politics and international Relations Student having just finished an exchange year at George Washington University in DC. As President I have sought to drastically and rapidly improve the society into a beacon of student activity, this includes developing the level of communication and cooperation that exists between the society and the PIR department as well as the College and Students Union, and establishing a lasting legacy of strong activity and prosperous functions. Part of the legacy I am looking to forge is an annual Royal Holloway Model United Nations to compliment our existing NMUN and LIMUN delegation training, and give new opportunities to students. I can’t wait to be part of every step of the society’s development this next year, from new beginnings to New York.
Secretary and NMUN Head Delegate: Jack O’Neill
Being both Secretary of the Society as well as one of the NMUN Head Delegates, you will probably be hearing from me and seeing a lot of me over the next year, especially with how many exciting things we have planned! Essentially, as Secretary, I will be helping to cover all the organisation of the society to make sure there is a smooth running in the activities that we host. I will also be working closely with other Committee members to supplement the PIR Society experience, and especially with Dan in assisting Presidential duties. I hope that, as a committee, we will provide a memorable experience for you all and please feel free to get in touch with me or the other committee members. I look forward to seeing you at the forthcoming events, communicating with you all on all platforms, and hopefully see some of you in New York!
Treasurer: Jacob David Gibson
As Treasurer I do pretty much what it says on the tin: I look after the Society’s finances. But rather than just signing claim forms and printing off an account statement every once in a while, I am actively involved in trying to find new sources of sponsorship, especially for the trips we organize to places such as New York and Europe. We have had great success in the last few years raising money to make the great opportunities that conferences like the National Model United Nations in NYC offer even more accessible to passionate students, whatever their financial situation. We are currently working alongside the SU, the college management and institutions like the Alumni Fund, Royal Holloway International and the Student-Led Initiative Fund to find long-term sponsorship solutions for our trips and events. Personally, I am deeply committed to ensuring that each pound that members contribute to the society gets back to them in form of great events, socials and trips, whilst being accountable and professional.
NMUN Head Delegate: Henry Osbourne
I’ve recently gained my PIR degree at RHUL and am now studying for my masters. I’m the National Model United Nations (NMUN) Head Delegate alongside Jack O’Neil for the Politics and International Society. The NMUN is a highly prestigious and popular simulation of the United Nations, which takes place over a week in New York each year. Our university has attended this conference for numerous years, obtaining various awards throughout leading to our nomination as an “outstanding delegation” in 2012, 2013, and 2014. My function is to prepare and oversee the delegates, chosen from students, to make sure they represent our school and society well in New York and make sure that they are as prepared as can be before attending the conference. Jack and myself organise weekly training sessions to effectively accomplish our goals and make sure the delegates have the best training whilst maintaining a casual and fun environment.
Royal Holloway Model UN Officer: Ben Brewer
I’m a third-year PIR student, excited to be part of the Society Committee in this new position. My role in the society is to develop and prepare the Royal Holloway Model United Nations Conference alongside our President, LIMUN and NMUN Head Delegates. This includes preparing the logistics of the conference as well as preparing new participants. As previous Head Delegate for NMUN, I am sure we can develop something to compliment and maybe even rival the NMUN experience. This year looks to be an exciting opportunity for the society to develop a lasting legacy at Royal Holloway, with something open to further development and expansion in the future.
Volunteering and Social Events Officer: Bethany Walters
My role in the committee is effectively split into two parts. Firstly, there’s the social events side; I try and organize informal get-togethers outside of the educational lectures that we put on, giving our society members a chance to engage, mingle and let off some steam after a hard week at Uni. These events include pub crawls, meals out and trying to get as many people to come and represent us at campus wide social events, such as the Societies Ball. The second part of my job is the volunteering side. As a society we like to give back as much as possible. My role in this is to organize PIRSoc members to come together and take part in volunteering projects, usually coordinating with the SU to do this, whilst making them as enjoyable as possible. All of these roles compliment each other in such a way as to enhance our enjoyment.
Online Journal and IT Officer: Kelli Jones
I am a third year PIR student having just finished a year abroad at GWU with Daniel. As part of the committee I have helped launched the website and online journal, bringing my expertise from my time at GWU and with their online Political Blog. I work on making the blog as active and interesting as possible, with key participation from the department and student body. I’ve had great experience of the political scene in DC, and won the Mary MacPherson Prize for my essay entitled: ‘Is there Criminal Hypocrisy in Western Foreign Policy?’ whilst there. I look forwards to making the PIR Society one of the university’s key outlets of political news, investigation, and discussion. I also can’t wait to help Daniel in making something brand new for RHUL that will hopefully last for a very long time!
Academic Events Officer: Luca Barberis
My role includes organizing and delivering academic events, the composition of which range from key-note speeches to panel discussions and debates. I’m involved in every stage from brainstorming topics to recruiting speakers, handling PR and the logistical matters which make an event successful. My goal is two-fold: first, to help RHUL students meet and engage with people who contribute to the world of politics and IR to help them gain more perspective on the topics that they study and why they are really important. Secondly, from the perspective of a third year undergraduate, I am really motivated to get our students to gain more work experience and to start the process from the very beginning of their degrees.
LIMUN Head Delegate: Shivani Somaiya
As head delegate of LIMUN, I look forwards to developing and fostering a truly successful team that will rise to every challenge in London. The year will be both fun and opportunistic, and I can’t wait to lead the delegation. Working alongside Hope, I’ll look to organise weekly training sessions to effectively work towards our goals and requirements, and make sure the delegates have the best level of training whilst maintaining a casual and fun environment. This year’s LIMUN conference will be one of the best as we work on what we have done successfully in previous years, make great strides in developing a training scheme that will enhance our delegation even more, and with the opportunity of RHMUN to further foster our delegation’s success. I honestly cannot wait to get started!
Crisis Head Delegate: Hope Sanders
As head delegate for Crisis, I will be working alongside Shivani to make the greatest possible opportunity for our teams to be successful at LIMUN and Crisis this year. I really look forwards to every step along the way and being able to foster an incredibly successful team that. Crisis has always been a really proactive, energetic, and momentous fundamental part of the LIMUN experience, and being able to contribute to our success and enjoyment will be my honour. I also look forwards to having a really fun time, being able to foster a truly unique and inspirational group of students, and to seeing how successful we can be at this year’s conference!
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