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When Ethan Gerner ‘27 first learned about the Lehigh University/United Nations (LU/UN) Partnership at a career fair during his freshman year, he was surprised and impressed by the many ways the program allows Lehigh students and faculty to engage the United Nations in meaningful ways.

One year later, Gerner was among more than 40 Lehigh students who visited the U.N. headquarters in New York City, where he sat just feet away from speaker Philémon Yang, the President of the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly and former Prime Minister of Cameroon.

“I’ve seen this room on TV before, like on the news and C-SPAN,” Gerner said. “But when I walked into the room myself, it was incredible. It was like, ‘I’m in the room where it happens.’ Some of the most important people in the world do their work right here.”

The Lehigh students attended a town hall meeting with Yang on Feb. 12, as well as a session about the Pact for the Future, which focused in part on how young people can play a major role in upcoming United Nations policy discussions.

It was the first of several trips to the U.N. headquarters planned for this semester through the LU/UN Partnership, which is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary. Each year, the partnership helps more than 1,000 Lehigh faculty, staff, and students attend U.N. conferences, high-level briefings, and private meetings with ambassadors and other U.N. officials.

“I’d like to welcome the students here from Lehigh University,” Maher Nasser, Director of Outreach Division at the Department of Global Communications at the U.N., said during the town hall. “Lehigh is the university with the longest history with the Civil Society Unit at the U.N.”

Out of the 40 Lehigh students who attended the Feb. 12 trip, more than half had never been to the United Nations headquarters before, according to Bill Hunter, Director of Fellowship Advising and U.N. Programs.

“I was so excited to come here, and when I got my badge and stepped into that chamber, it was amazing,” said Demi Moore ‘27, an LU/UN Youth Representative who is majoring in Political Science and Global Studies. “I’ve seen so many pictures of this room before, and then suddenly I was here experiencing it for myself.”

During his remarks, Yang discussed the priorities of the 79th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. They include addressing climate change and environmental sustainability, promotion of multilateralism and global cooperation, emerging technologies and artificial intelligence, and a focus on Africa’s development.

“Today's discussion is very appreciated, and please trust that I will take your suggestions and concerns with me as I preside over the General Assembly of the United Nations and as I commit to work during the upcoming intergovernmental negotiation,” Yang told the crowd. “The path for the future concerns all of us.”

During the Pact for the Future session, Julia Widding ‘27, an International Relations major and intern at the LU/UN Partnership, asked a question during the public comment portion. She asked how universities like Lehigh can help contribute to the Pact, a proposed international agreement to strengthen global cooperation and address pressing global challenges.

“Universities are places where leaders of the world are created today, and I think it's important they incorporate the principles that we are promoting at the United Nations: principles promoting peace and security, human rights, and sustainable development,” Nasser said in response to Widding’s question.

Nudhara Yusuf, co-chair of the Coalition for the UN We Need (C4UN), added that the Pact for the Future has many new ideas that will require research to back them up. “I think it’s a really incredible opportunity for young researchers especially to step up with expertise and show that they have their research interpretations of their future as well,” she said.

The LU/UN Partnership offers myriad ways to engage the United Nations, including the Youth Representatives Program, internships, class trips, faculty research presentations, the UNA-Lehigh Student Club, and mor