Columbia International Relations Council and Association
The Columbia International Relations Council and Association, more commonly known as CIRCA, is a student organization for students interested in international relations and diplomacy. It was formerly known as Model UN, but changed its name in 2007. Supposedly, the name is a backronym. The group was funded and recognized by the Activities Board at Columbia, but switched to the Student Governing Board in 2012 to reflect its increased size and humanitarian mission. The club is the one of the largest on campus.[1]
CIRCA is known for hosting several conferences during the year: CMUNNY (c-money), CMUNCE (c-monkey), and CESIMS. CMUNNY stands for Columbia Model United Nations New York and is a conference for college students from across the country to compete in a Model UN setting. CMUNCE is a similar program for high school students. These conferences generate tens of thousands of dollars in revenue, making CIRCA far less dependent on university funding than most student groups. CESIMS is CIRCA's philanthropic conference, catering to local Title I high school and middle school students, and offering a conference experience like CMUNCE but at no cost.
CIRCA also includes a globally competitive MUN travel team, a speaker series, a world travel journal (NowHere), the Columbia Political Review, among other branches as well. Its President for the 2015-2016 year is Daniel Brovman.
