UTA has gained international recognition after an “outstanding” performance in Model North Atlantic Treaty Organization 2012, winning two awards and an honorable mention.

Among 30 universities from five countries, the UTA delegation, which represented the Czech Republic, received honorable mention in the category of Outstanding Overall Delegation Award.

Model NATO is an annual student-run event, which simulates the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Each participating university represents one NATO member state.

Delegations are presented a hypothetical crisis, which they should resolve based on the stances and interests of the countries they represent. This year’s topic was the Syrian crisis, which involves a potential civil war between forces of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and those involved in an uprising against his government.

Russian senior Greg Hershkowitz and political science junior Kevin Whitright won Outstanding Leadership Awards for their contributions to the Defense Planning Committee and the Political Affairs Committee. The awards were handed out on Sunday. Political science junior Mario Lamar, economics junior Ambreen Pathan, political science senior Verica Todorovic and Milena Vuksanovic, a political science graduate student, were the other members of the delegation.

Vuksanovic said the this year’s topic focused on whether NATO should deploy troops in Syria to resolve the crisis. Before departing for Washington, D.C., Hershkowitz explained the Syrian crisis was one of the many issues the UTA delegation prepared for. He added there was a lot of different ways the situation in Syria could play out.

The UTA delegation had to make decisions reflecting the Czech Republic’s official stance. Therefore, the delegates visited the Czech Embassy on Thursday and met with political officer Barbora Esnerova.

Vuksanovic, who sat on the North Atlantic Council during the simulation, had nothing but praise for her fellow delegates.

“I commend everyone — especially Kevin, who stepped in and filled in for me when I got sick on the final day,” she said, still sounding a little weak thanks to the D.C. weather.

The UTA’s impressive performance won the praise of political science assistant professor Brent Sasley, who accompanied the delegation to Model NATO as faculty adviser.

“I’m extremely proud of our students’ accomplishments. They all performed at a very high level,” he said on Tuesday. “Most impressively, they adapted very quickly to the conditions and rhythms of the simulation. Because of this, they were all central to the deliberations and reports of their committees.”

This year, Model NATO was hosted by Howard University Friday through Sunday in Washington, D.C.