Office of the Secretary-General
HAMUN 48
Alyssa Caver
Secretary General
Alyssa Caver is a Senior at The University of Texas at Austin, majoring in International Relations and Global Studies and Government. She has been involved in Model UN since her junior year of high school, when she attended HAMUN for the first time as a delegate. Since then, Alyssa has served as a delegate to crisis committees and standard committees, a logistics staffer, crisis staffer, and crisis director at HAMUN and CTMUN, and as USG of Registration and Chief of Crisis Staff for HAMUN. She is honored to serve as your Secretary-General for HAMUN 48! Outside of HAMUN, Alyssa is a fellow at the Clements Center for National Security and is involved with CTMUN and BridgeTexas. She would like to encourage all HAMUN 48 delegates to get to know their staffers! They are each incredibly knowledgeable individuals can be incredibly useful in the college application process, and who knows, you may end up working alongside them in future years as a staffer yourself!
Maria Morkas
Chief of Staff
Maria Morkas serves as the Chief of Staff for HAMUN 48. She is studying Psychology, with a minor in Neuroscience and Politics, Law, and Social Thought, at Rice University. This is her 6th consecutive year in HAMUN, as she attended as a delegate all four years of high school, and continued to staff as the USG of Logistics thereafter. Outside of HAMUN and academics, she enjoys writing and editing for the university newspaper, yearbook, and literary magazine. A native Houstonian, she enjoys trying out the variety of cuisines the city has to offer. For incoming delegates, she recommends taking chances and having fun! All delegates are there to grow and improve their speaking and resolution writing skills, so don’t be afraid to try something new!
Arthur Ji
Director-General
Arthur is a current sophomore at UT Austin studying Computer Science, Business Honors, and Finance. Originally from the California Bay Area, he will be serving as HAMUN 48's Director-General. Previously he served as Chief of Standard Staff a committee chair at HAMUN. Outside of Model UN, he enjoys baking, cooking, and playing League of Legends.
Having participated in Model UN heavily and helped train other delegates, his biggest tip would be to find your own leadership style, and from minute one of committee, start building relationships and solidify your leadership. Be sure to mention others ideas, and never waste a speech - always use them to control the direction of debate.
Olivia Green
USG of Registration
Olivia is a third year student at the University of Texas at Austin studying American Studies and History! Olivia also is working towards minors in both Government and Core Texts and Ideas. She is passionate about education, equality, and history. Olivia greatly enjoys organizing anything as small as her personal schedule to a conference as large as HAMUN. This is Olivia’s second year working as the Under-Secretary General of Registration, and she is looking forward to making this year’s conference a great one! As a delegate, Olivia was able to gain numerous skills that she is so grateful for. If she had one piece of advice to give the delegates it would be to act with professionalism, this is one of the first formal professional experiences that you will get! Learn from it!
Hemish Thakkar
USG of Crisis
Hemish Thakkar is a senior at Rice University pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering on a pre-med track. Despite being a STEM major, Hemish is still an avid fan of history and politics. He first attended HAMUN in his junior year of high school, followed by various other conferences throughout his upperclassman years. Hemish was a delegate in both standard and crisis committees, winning multiple awards. He was also a Crisis Director at HAMUN 45. Outside of school and Model UN, Hemish is a lead instructor at his martial arts school where he empowers students’ self-defense, discipline, and confidence. He is a Second Degree Black Belt in Kuk Sool and a First Degree Black Belt in taekwondo. Besides teaching and training, Hemish also competed at a national level throughout his high school career. In his free time, he enjoys playing soccer and practicing the electric guitar. He looks forward to serving as USG of Crisis for HAMUN 48.
Ayush Suresh
USG of Logistics
Ayush Suresh, the Chief of Logistics for HAMUN 48, is a freshman college student from Houston, TX looking to study Computer Science in college with an interest in medicine. His introduction to MUN and the world of global policy came in 2019 when he served as a delegate of Kuwait to the DISEC committee at HAMUN 44. Since then, he's developed a passion for drawing out, debating, and negotiating on practical yet effective policy to solve important global issues, partaking in various conferences across the world including WorldMUN Sarajevo in 2019. Having chaired an excellent HAMUN 47, he's excited to see the work that delegates put in to develop their well thought out plans for the many world issues to be discussed in committee!
Zarek Merchant
USG of Public Relations
Zarek is a sophomore at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is currently studying finance and real estate. His interest in MUN started as a high schooler when he participated as a delegate in HAMUN's ECOSOC committee for the first time. Now, HAMUN 48 will mark his 5th consecutive year involved in MUN. Outside of MUN, and in his free time, he involves himself in student government, plays tennis, and likes to cook.
For incoming delegates, he recommends pushing through the initial MUN learning curve: the relationships, experiences, and memories will last a lifetime!
Jawad Kazi
USG of Technology
Jawad is a sophmore at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is currently studying Economics and compute science. He began Model UN as a frehsman in high school and has always been a delegate or chair since. He initially began doing HAMUN for friends, community, and the potential to learn as a delegate. Outside of HAMUN, he spends his time playing chess, learning how to program, and playing basketball.
