AEGEE Mainz-Wiesbaden will organize a Model European Union Simulation event this summer and it is already possible to apply. For this reason, The AEGEEan took the opportunity to interview Rene Schroeder from AEGEE-Mainz-Wiesbaden about the antenna and the event itself.
The AEGEEan: Can you tell us a bit more about your antenna? When were you founded? How many members do you have? Are you very active?
Rene Schroeder: AEGEE Mainz-Wiesbaden was founded in January 1970 and currently has 21 members. The new board was installed on January 22, 2014. The newly elected president is Ms. Alicia Clesius, together with her secretaries Christina Bingler and Katharina Bunde. Furthermore, there have been chosen four more persons into the board, with Hannes Frank being the connector between AEGEE and the ERASMUS Team, René Schröder having the focus in and around the Model European Union (MEU) simulation and Robert Pieszczyk and Cynthia Kraus having further assignments. At the beginning of every semester, we encourage fellow students to join the AEGEE experience. The members visit lectures all around the campus, give information about AEGEE and invite them to the weekly meetings. As the old board left in January, we try to uphold the new spirit and try to install as many new members as possible in order to secure the future existence of AEGEE Mainz-Wiesbaden. We just got in contact with AEGEE-Praha and AEGEE-Enschede about some cultural exchanges during this year’s spring and/or summer. We will also send one or two board members to Spring Agora Patra 2014 and take part in as many events as possible.
How are you trying to get members now that it is Summer University Application period?
We already had a booth on the campus this year to announce the summer universities and might continue with that in the upcoming semester as well. We will talk to all the interested students about their opportunities and give them as much information as they need.
What made you interested in hosting the Model European Union?
MEU Mainz is a great opportunity to meet people from all over Europe and even beyond that. It is a lot of fun to interact with them, talk about different topics and make them feel good. And as a student’s organization it was almost a duty as we initiated the MEU Mainz in 2011 with the cooperation of Bringing Europeans Together Association (BETA) eV.
What are your tasks in organizing the event?
There are various tasks for us to make the event happen: the organization of sleeping facilities and finding a room for the simulation itself are the most important points. Then there is the work of team coordination, as we are with nearly 35 people organizing the event this year. The Delegate Generals (DGs) of this years team are David Degenhardt and Lukas Prinz. The team is split up in several resources, as Public Relations, Fundraising, Content, Participants Coordination, Social Program and Logistics. All of these teams do a marvelous job, offering a lot of their free time into the organization every year.
Why should you apply for MEUM 2014?
Rather simple to answer: if you are interested in European politics and have ever wanted to be a member of the European Council, a member of the Parliament of the EU or a journalist, this is your chance! The topics are always up-to-date and are real topics that are discussed in the Parliament and Council in Strasbourg too. Additionally, you have the opportunity of getting to know the city of Mainz and inspire yourself with some traditional habits, like food, wine and more. Personally, I haven’t attended a MEU and most of our organizational staff of the newer generation (since 2012) hasn’t as well. But we always get input from our predecessors and friends who give advice and help us to make the event both bigger and better.
How is the organization like of the MEU?
The organization of events like the MEU is always a success, considering the opinion of the participants who always give feedback on the event. Moreover, the organization itself is a bless, because we have a really good crew that always stands together like a union and many friendships have already arisen from this, too.
Do you consider it a challenge that the event is around the same time as the SUs?
No, it is not a challenge, since the MEUM has its own organizing staff, creates all the advertisements and the antenna mostly deals with events like the SU, which is advertised by the antenna itself, far apart from the MEU. AEGEE, moreover, mainly serves as the arranging partner for the MEU, which has its own body and can therefore serve as an own organiszation, like the ERASMUS team.
Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-Zaragoza