After 14 years of advising Moorestown Friends School’s (MFS) Model United Nations (MUN) Program, Clark Thomson has stepped down from his position.
Thomson had been planning to step down from advising MUN for years in order to leave space for new leadership in the program; however, because of constraints with finding a new adviser, Thomson has remained as the adviser for an additional two years.
The MUN program is a minor course and club that simulates the United Nations and allows students to practice diplomacy, public speaking, and problem-solving skills. Before Thomson arrived at MFS, the MUN program had existed for years; however, he stepped in as there was a need for a new adviser.
At the beginning of Thomson’s advising of MUN, Thomson noted that the program was slightly different.
“Years ago, there was a lot of work that needed to be done to change the culture of the program from one that was a few kids who were ostensibly leaders, but just considered themselves a private club of the cool kids and everyone else, to what it is now, which is why I’m so happy to allow someone else to take over, because the students run it and support everyone in it. The group [now] feels like a family,” Thomson said.
Ali Sabir ’26, current MUN Secretary-General and student leader of the minor class, described Thomson’s leadership as being key to the development of the student-led culture of the organization.
“The trust Thomson had in student leaders allowed the program to remain fiercely student-led and [has] allowed student leaders to step up and flourish, growing the program into what it is today,” Sabir said.
Thomson coordinated numerous overnight and day trips to Philadelphia, New Brunswick, Wilmington, and other cities for MUN conferences. Currently, much of Thomson’s role is “strictly logistics” in terms of leading it, which was “collecting checks, arranging for where people are going to sleep, what the schedule is, and chaperoning,” according to Thomson.
However, at the beginning of his advising, most of his role included learning more about MUN, as he wasn’t well acquainted with the program before becoming the adviser.
“I devoted myself to finding out what actually happens and what schools do well, what they do, and what schools whose kids have a positive experience,” said Thomson.
Currently, Assistant Head of School Meredith Godley is searching and gauging interest for a new adviser for Model UN. According to Thomson, the new adviser will be found internally and will possibly be a teacher in one of the humanities departments.
Current MUN student Rayyan Ansari ’28 stated that because of the uncertainty of the new MUN adviser, there is fear among the students in MUN that there is a “chance that the MUN program [will] not continue” in the next year.
To the current students at MFS, Thomson has made a big impact on their experience with MUN. According to Ansari, Thomson’s energy and presence “[made] the experiences great” and without him, the students “wouldn’t be able to go on [the] trips.”
Sabir stated that his favorite memory with Thomson is his “carefully curated collection of MUN pictures,” which “[kept] the program’s memory alive while allowing it to continually grow and change.”
In response to his opinions on the prospect of a new adviser, Ansari responded, “I am more than sure that they will be a more than welcome leader to our program and be able to bring the same spirit and energy Thomson did.”
