Model Congress

Model Congress gives students a chance to engage in a role-playing simulation of the United States Congress. Such events are hosted by the Congress itself, Rutgers University, American International College, Columbia University, Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, Yale, The College of William and Mary and Harvard.

These simulations range in complexity from the government-sponsored Model United States House of Representatives, hosted on Capitol Hill and featuring six Congressional committees to Harvard's simulation featuring both the House and Senate, various committees therein, the Supreme Court, and offshoots in San Francisco, Europe and Asia. North Carolina has a program similar to Model Congress called North Carolina Youth Legislative Assembly, and Arkansas has one called the Arkansas Student Congress on Human Relations. The mock assembly models the North Carolina General Assembly and Arkansas General Assembly but also uses parliamentary procedure and Robert's Rules of Order.

Awards are available for outstanding delegates, both in committee and in full session. Often, debaters call winning the highest award in a committee or full session "gaveling", and some exceptionally skilled debaters may "double gavel", or win the top award in both committee and full sessions.

American International College's Model Congress Program is the longest-running program of its kind in the United States.

The University of Pennsylvania hosted the first ever intercollegiate Model Congress conference on November 6-7, 2010. Yale University soon followed with a conference on April 23, 2011. The circuit is gradually expanding. World Youth Model Congress, organized by college and high school students from South Korea, is the first of its kind to be held in North-East Asia.

High schools

The Horace Mann School in Riverdale, New York will hold its first annual conference for one day in the fall. Its next conference is on November 12, 2011.

Certain High schools in New York, specifically the Nassau and Westchester county area, participate in a competitive debate league known as United Model Congress (UMC). These schools get together 8 times during the school year and debate over various pieces of mock legislation just as an actual legislative body would. The schools involved (also known as delegations) are

• East Meadow High School
• Lawrence High School
• Long Beach High School
• [[Oceanside School District|Oceanside High School]
• Herricks High School
• George W. Hewlett High School
• Seaford High School
• New Rochelle High School
• Wantagh High School

Wantagh and Seaford are considered one delegation known as Tri-District, or "Tri-D" for short.

Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut will commence its 38th Model Congress on Monday, October 10.

Intercollegiate

For many years, Model Congress was only limited to high school students to participate. In November 2010, the University of Pennsylvania hosted the first ever intercollegiate conference, followed by a conference by Yale University in April 2011. Penn and Yale followed with second conferences in 2011-2012, along with Columbia University and Trinity College. Cornell University is planning to host its first annual conference in Spring 2013. The intercollegiate circuit uses the same general rules as high school competitions held by host schools and is rapidly expanding as high school students seek and outlet to continue their participation in Model Congress while in college in ways other than hosting conferences for high school students.

See also

• Model United Nations
• Harvard Model Congress
• Yale Model Congress
• YMCA Youth and Government

External links

• Harvard Model Congress
• Rutgers Model Congress
• Columbia Model Congress
• Yale Model Congress
• Penn Model Congress
• Princeton Model Congress
• Stetson Model Senate
• College of William and Mary Model Congress
• American International College Model Congress