Childhood’s End: The Department of Public Works, 42000 CE

 
 

The time is 42,749 years after the first human spaceflight. The place is Galaxy City, gleaming capital of the galaxy-spanning Almagest. The weather is cloudy with a chance of firestorms, because Galaxy City and the galactic government were just obliterated by a rogue asteroid of suspicious origins and cataclysmic effect.

Delegates will take the reins of the Galaxy City Department of Public Works as it struggles to rebuild the galactic capital. It will not be an easy job, because the Department is chronically underfunded and its surviving assets total a few preserved fish and some signage. Nor will it be the only task facing delegates: as an agency of the federal government, the Department is the only thing that can save the Galaxy from the chaos and bloodshed of civil war.

In this space odyssey, a spiritual successor to last year’s Futuristic Security Council, delegates will need to work together and think on their feet to resolve the crises that arise in the course of their quest to rebuild Galaxy City and restore order to the Galaxy. They should come prepared to learn a thing or two about crisis response, negotiation, and the salmonid fishes of the North American continent. They should also expect the unexpected, for nothing is ever as it seems, and good public infrastructure is indistinguishable from magic.

 

Estimable delegates,

Welcome to Harvard Model United Nations 2025! It is my privilege and pleasure to welcome you all to the Galaxy City Department of Public Works and an unforgettable four days of adventure, hope, betrayal, and mostly controlled chaos.

I’m Casey Murray, and I will be your director on this grandest of shenanigans (er, MUN committee). Originally from Chicago’s northern suburbs, I am a senior at Harvard studying Astrophysics and Earth and Planetary Science and trying to decide between a minor in Physics or one in Celtic Studies. I have always been in love with science and the natural world (I was an avid after-school botanist in middle school, ask me about my flower transplantation experiments) but I discovered Model UN in my first year of high school and loved it for the same reason that many of you probably do — it was a great opportunity to debate pressing global issues with my friends while causing chaos. Later on, I enjoyed brainstorming topics for my high school’s MUN club, and that experience led me to staffing committees at HMUN and HNMUN (our collegiate conference) for the past three years. This committee will be the spiritual finale to all those past adventures; I hope to make it a great time for all of you.

Outside of conferences, I participate in ICMUN — Harvard’s traveling MUN team — but I don’t travel too frequently and our conferences are my main Model United Nations outlet at college. Aside from MUN, I serve as the President of the Student Astronomers at Harvard-Radcliffe (STAHR), and spend far too many late nights using our historic rooftop telescope to look at the Moon, Mars, and more! Lest MUN and STAHR turn me into a night-loving gremlin, I’m also involved with the Harvard Outing Club, the primary hiking club on campus.

Let me be quite clear: this committee will have a rough start. You represent the leaders of the nearly-defunct public works department of the capital city of the Galaxy some 40,000 years in the future. That would be a nice retirement gig, were it not for the fact that most of said capital city of the Galaxy was just destroyed. The entire Galactic government has been decapitated, and you will need to work together to claw together some semblance of authority and resolve this crisis before the entire Galaxy descends into chaos and bloodshed.

Our goal is to stretch the framework of Model United Nations to its absolute limit in order to test your ability to think creatively and adapt to rapidly-changing situations — both rather useful skills in today’s fast-moving world. We cannot wait to get started; safe travels, and we’ll see you in Boston!

Best wishes,

Casey Murray

Director, Childhood’s End: The Department of Public Works, 42000 CE

publicworks@harvardmun.org

Harvard Model United Nations 2025

 
 

Dear Delegates, 

Welcome to Harvard National Model United Nations 2025! 

My name is Asher Montgomery, I am a junior at Harvard College studying Integrative Biology with a secondary in English. I am from Tampa, Florida, where my mom owns a Shuffleboard Bar and my dad lives on a boat. My first MUN experience was in fifth grade where I represented India in the Committee on the Status of Women and had no idea what was going on. I took an eight year hiatus from MUN until joining Harvard's traveling team my freshman year. Last year, I directed a committee on the East Coast/West Coast Hip Hop rivalry which was a blast. 

At school, I also cover police and crime for The Crimson, our daily newspaper. I also bartend at the student run pub and lead hikes for freshmen with our first year outdoors program. In my free time, I like playing guitar, having long conversations, running, and of course, brainstorming great crisis breaks. 

I am incredibly honored to serve as the crisis director for this fantastical committee. As delegates, you will navigate the stars as you work to reconstruct the Galaxy City Department of Public Works. You have limited materials, very little support and are facing all sorts of challenges you could never predict. However delegates, through teamwork, diplomacy, creativity and with some chaotic fun, I have no doubt you will invent a thriving future for Galaxy City. 

I am so excited for the fun we’re going to have in this committee and looking forward to the chaos you will cause. 

Best,

Asher Montgomery

Crisis Director, Childhood’s End: The Department of Public Works, 42000 CE

publicworks@harvardmun.org

Harvard Model United Nations 2025