The Leon Charney Diplomacy Program Places First in the Nation!

The Leon Charney Diplomacy Program at Florida Atlantic University recently competed in the annual diplomacy competition in New York City. The program received two Outstanding Delegation and nine Best Delegate in Committee awards, finishing first overall out of 207 competing universities.

FAU also came in first place at the Washington, D.C. competition in November 2021, making it the first time in the competition’s 95-year history that the same university won the national award at the Washington, D.C. and New York competitions in the same academic year.

FAU had 54 students compete in New York, joining more than 3,000 college students where schools represent countries and students step into the shoes of diplomats to solve global problems.

“I am so proud of our students and their hard work and dedication,” said Annette LaRocco, Ph.D., senior associate director of the Leon Charney Diplomacy Program. “This delegation has achieved unprecedented success thanks to their efforts throughout the year and at the competition in New York City. We are fortunate to have them represent FAU.”

The Leon Charney Diplomacy Program, which trains students in world affairs, dispute resolution, and debate, was established in 1996 and is a unit of the Center for Peace, Justice, & Human Rights within the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters. To date, the program has won 54 national and international awards for academic excellence and four national titles.

“This meant a lot to me because it proved I can set the stage in an international affairs arena and that the Leon Charney Program was successful in teaching me prized diplomatic skills that will help me in my future endeavors,” said Farantos Carras, a senior at FAU and member of the diplomacy team. “More importantly, I managed to make my professor proud and remind him that his influence is every student’s core strength in this competition, and this strength was shown by our entire delegation.” 

In 2017, the program was named to honor the diplomatic legacy of Leon Charney, who played a key role in the 1978 Camp David Accords.  Along with LaRocco, FAU professors Jeffrey Morton, Ph.D. and Timothy Steigenga, Ph.D. direct the program, which will next compete in nationals in Washington, D.C. in November.

Information about the Leon Charney Diplomacy Program can be found at https://www.fau.edu/artsandletters/pjhr/diplomacy/ .