Eighteen students from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock got a taste of life as international diplomats during a trip to Washington, D.C., to participate in the National Model Arab League Conference. 

The Model Arab League is a student leadership development program created by the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations. It is a simulation of an international organization, the League of Arab States, which has 22 member countries.

While visiting Washington, D.C., the students met with Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and sat in on a Senate Intelligence Committee Hearing.

UA Little Rock Model Arab Leagues members include Andrea Elias, Shelby Shelton, Emmanuel Onochie, Jalen Stevenson, Vanessa Griffin, Jonathan Nwosu, Austin Robinson, Makell Swinney, Brian Gregory, Eliza Akhoudas, Nathan Davis, Mariam Bouzihay, Anet Rosas, Emily Powell, Kevin Shatley, Paige Topping, Heidi Davis, and Austin Soulsby.

More than 400 students participated in the conference March 29 to April 2. UA Little Rock team members represented Somalia, a country located on the Horn of Africa with a population of about 11 million people.

“The students conducted simulated diplomatic negotiations on a variety of important issues —  from the refugee crisis to water scarcity to combating terrorism,” said Dr. Rebecca Glazier, faculty adviser of the UA Little Rock Model Arab League and associate professor in the School of Public Affairs.

In the upper right photo, UA Little Rock students visit Washington, D.C. during a trip to the National Model Arab League. Pictured (L-R) Nathan Davis, Heidi Davis, Makell Swinney, Brian Gregory, Jalen Stevenson, Emmanuel Onochie, Paige Topping, Jonathan Nwosu, and Austin Robinson.