As the sleet descended to the ground, and the first rays of dawn broke on the morning of March 4th, Montrose girls were making the final preparations to attend the 31st Boston College High School Model United Nations conference. The focal points of every committee varied greatly, and participants assembled inside each with subjects encompassing the Senate on the USA PATRIOT Act, the Balkans War Crisis, a committee on Harry Potter, and many more.

The ceremonial welcome which commenced the day consisted of opening addresses from members of the school’s club as well as the Head of School, followed by a short presentation from Mr. Gregory LoGerfo, a graduate of the BC High Class of ’91. He is presently employed at the Bureau of Counterterrorism and attended college at the University of Miami and the College of William and Mary for law school. His talk revolved around the topic of working for various branches of the U.S. government, more particularly with jobs related to diplomacy and foreign relations. He presented his work as an exciting and achievable career path and made known the many ways to achieve these goals and dreams. Mr. LoGerfo supplemented the oration with benefits and remarkable times and memories he gained through his work, including the opportunity to travel all over the world alongside collaborating with and meeting many new and different people. The address concluded with a video message from the U.S. representative to the United Nations who praised all of the benefits brought by Model UN to young, aspiring diplomats. The presentation as a whole was very admirable and well-thought-out, posing a convincing argument to follow this kind of work and simultaneously explaining many ways to make this possible.

As the introduction and welcome addresses concluded, the various committees departed to their rooms to commence debate. Within the auditorium, the mock Senate came together, beginning to discuss and find solutions to the matter of the USA PATRIOT Act. In its inaugural form, Congress voted the Patriot Act into law on October 24th, 2001 by a large majority with the purpose of identifying and ending possible terrorist threats to our nation’s security by giving the government the power to surveil those who appear to be threats to the nation or anything that may lead to an attack. The assignment of the mock Senators is to determine whether this law is necessary in today’s world, whether to bring it back into law, and what changes should be made if that were to occur. Many Senators believe that the bill is effective, but a committee of oversight is necessary. Some of those present took stronger views that the Patriot Act does not need an oversight committee for its work but instead works meticulously on its own.

The discussion mostly surrounded the effects of the USA PATRIOT Act in everyday life and how to keep it from invading privacy without reason but to still keep the powers that the bill provides to use in fighting terrorism. Senators were able to use this in-depth and realistic discussion to begin drafting resolution papers very early on in the conference. The first resolution drafted was one to reinstate the Patriot Act and to leave any alterations for later resolutions. As a result of this worry-about-it-later attitude toward the resolution, it failed to be presented. The second resolution’s purpose was to reinstate the Act, create a committee to help address and make steps towards ending terrorism itself, and provide an oversight committee to assure that its provisions were functioning properly and no errors were occurring. The third and final resolution took a step onward from the latter of the previous papers by taking more redistributive action to solve the problem, which many delegates viewed as going too far. The second resolution passed, but the third resolution failed.

Montrose girls who attended the conference enjoyed the experience and undoubtedly contributed meaningful debate and ideas to their committees, along with having positive experiences and memories to depart with. Meredith Baker ’23 commented: “Our committee on the Balkan League was unconventional due to the lack of participants from the snow but ultimately a great experience and a lot of fun!” and Lily Anderson ’25 replied more simply: “It was fun!”

As the final speakers ended their reflections and remarks, delegates stepped out into the gloomy weather to make their way home, filled with good memories, new and deepened connections with friends, and many new and exciting accomplishments. Even though many were exhausted, everyone must have come out with no regrets about their day.

By Elisabeth Smith ‘28, Rising Middle School Editor

28esmith@montroseschool.org