UN representative visits with students, faculty

William Davis, the director of the United Nations Information Center in Washington, D.C., brought international issues closer to East Lansing with his visit to campus Monday.

Davis visited MSU to get a sense of the campus and to discuss benefits of U.S.-U.N. re-engagement for Michigan and the campus community.

With many of his meetings at MSU finished Monday afternoon, he said some of his impressions of the university dramatically have changed.

“I thought I had a pretty decent sense for how people here at Michigan State University … would be interested in U.S. and U.N. and international issues,” he said. “Now I find that my poor simple observations are completely overtaken by what I’ve learned from just some of the contact.”

Davis said he was impressed by the efforts of student groups, the presence of international scientists at the Cyclotron and university efforts to work on climate change. Confronting global issues such as climate change and global hunger is something Michigan might have a role in, he said.

“The U.S. and Michigan in particular are going to have to work with other countries to resolve some of the problems that people here at Michigan State are already working on,” he said. “(The) U.N. is the perfect forum for all countries to come together to do so.”

Davis visited the MSU Model U.N. on Monday morning and talked to student members about working for the U.N. and some of the hurdles he faces on the job. Hayes Brown, an international relations and Asian studies senior and the model U.N.’s undersecretary general of crisis said he was very excited about Davis’ visit.

“We’re really hoping to … show off to the university and the U.N. what we have to the potential to do to bring international affairs to MSU’s campus,” he said.

Kevin Mersol-Barg, a James Madison College freshman and member of the model U.N., said his personal interests in international affairs prompted him to listen to Davis Monday morning.

“I have a genuine interest in international relations and since this person hails from the real U.N. there’s a great deal I can learn from him,” he said.

This visit might spark another, next time from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said Joseph Hess, president of the Greater Lansing Chapter of the United Nations Association of the U.S.A.

“We’re hoping that as a result of the visit of William Davis this year, and with the broad orientation that we’re going to be giving to him while he’s here, … that we can lay the groundwork for inviting Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to come in 2010 sometime during the month of October,” he said.

U.S-U.N. re-engagement is important because of the significant role the U.N. can play in peacemaking within countries, Hess said.

“The U.N. is the only global organization that is established to promote peaceful resolution of problems between countries and nations and to deal with global problems like global warming and climate change,” he said.

Davis hoped to use his visit to explain the U.N.’s purpose and clear up common misinterpretations.

“There are lots of misimpressions about the U.N.,” he said. “(That the U.N.) makes a great punching bag or a great scapegoat (or) ‘Why hasn’t the U.N. fixed Darfur? Why hasn’t the U.N. solved global poverty?’”

Since President Barack Obama took office, Davis said the tone has changed and no longer is there “U.N. bashing for bashing’s sake.”

If Davis walks away leaving an understanding at MSU, he said he’ll be happy.

“Whatever I can do on my visit here to explain a little bit more about what the U.N. is and isn’t, what it can and can’t do and what kind of support it needs … then that’s the icing on the cake for me,” he said.