JCC Enemies to Lovers?: Council of Cleopatra VII, 32 BC
Before her rise to fame as the subject of a Frank Ocean song, Cleopatra was (believe it or not) a real person! To be specific, she was the ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt—and was one of the, if not the, most powerful women in the world. Of course, men were praying for her downfall—but we’ll get into this later.
In a thin belt of extremely fertile soil fed by the Nile, Egypt was home to one of the earliest known permanent civilizations. Despite the relative scarcity of land, Egypt quickly became one of the wealthiest and most culturally vibrant civilizations in the world. Yet Egypt’s success was not limited to the economic and cultural spheres. Led by the Pharaohs, Egypt expanded further down the Nile River Valley and into the Levant, reaching its furthest territorial extent around 1500 BC. Sadly, centuries of political infighting gradually weakened Egypt, with the Nile Valley falling under the control of the Assyrians and then the Persians. Finally, in 332 BCE, Alexander the Great conquered Egypt, establishing a new capital at Alexandria. After Alexander’s untimely death, his empire was divided into three kingdoms, with Egypt becoming the center of the Ptolemaic Kingdom. Under Ptolemaic rule, Egypt has flourished, with Alexandria in particular growing to be a prosperous and multicultural port city.
In 32 BC, storm clouds loom on the horizon. The Roman Republic has been slowly but surely expanding its influence across the Mediterranean world—and they have their eyes on Egypt. Of course, Cleopatra is unwilling to hunker down. Her plan for Egypt? To rebuild the empire built by her ancestor Alexander and to restore Egypt to its rightful place in the Mediterranean. She won’t stop until she gets the Egypt she envisions.
Chrit gao
Chair
Chritina (but please call her Chrit) is a fourth year in the College majoring in economics and public policy. Hailing from NYC, she can often be found lamenting about the quality of bagels in Chicago or attempting to walk everywhere. She was a crisis director for Mom, I’m in Love with an Alien at ChoMUN XXVII, a crisis director for Democracy for Dummies in ChoMUN XXVI, and an AC for the Mattachine Society committee in ChoMUN XXV and will be chairing the Cleopatra side of the JCC for her final ChoMUN!
Outside of ChoMUN, Chrit is the Secretary-General of MUNUC and plans large-scale events for the university community with the Council on University Programming. When she is able to escape the MUN circles that she has entrenched herself in, she enjoys dragging her friends on long walks on Lakeshore Drive, refreshing Beli for new restaurant recs, and listening to the same three artists (Gracie, Harry, Noah) on repeat.
If you have any questions, need Chicago (or NYC) recommendations, or want to talk about the current state of college football, please feel free to reach out at chritina@uchicago.edu.
Carina villalona
Crisis Director
Carina is a second-year student in the College majoring in political science. With experience as an assistant chair to the JCC: Ford v Ferrari at ChoMUN27 and as a chair for the APEC committee in the MUNUC conference for high schoolers, she is excited to act as a first-time crisis director for the Cleopatra side of this JCC. Outside of ChoMUN, Carina is active in the university’s Trott Business Program, the Phoenix Development Fund social impact consulting group, the Student Philanthropy Committee, and the Kababayan Filipino cultural club.
Outside of academics and extracurriculars, she enjoys watching anime (favorites being Bungou Stray Dogs and the Case Study of Vanitas), listening to 2000s alternative music, endlessly researching personality typology, and traveling around the world.
If you have any questions, would like to discuss anime or music recommendations, or want to share MBTI and Enneagram types, feel free to reach out at cvillalona@uchicago.edu.
Julian tucker
coordinating CRISIS DIRECTOR
Julian is a fourth-year (meaning he personally witnessed the assassination of Julius Caesar) at the University of Chicago majoring in History and Political Science.
Being the grizzled ChoMUN veteran that he is, Julian’s past experience includes serving as an AC for the Kingdom of Serbia side of ChoMUN XXV’s JCC, a CD for No Time to Wine: The Sour Grapes of Burgundian Succession at ChoMUN XXVI, and the CD for the Ford side of JCC: Vroom or Doom at ChoMUN XXVII. Outside of ChoMUN, Julian is the USG for Hybrid committees at the University of Chicago’s premier high school MUN conference- MUNUC- and is currently writing a thesis on the history of election denial!
When Julian is not MUN-ing, studying, or sleeping he enjoys listening to the music of Travis Scott, Tame Impala, and The Weeknd (so original!), exploring Chicago’s food scene, and watching his beloved Baltimore Ravens with a fervor and intensity that has been described as ‘frightening.’
If you have any questions, need any good restaurant recs, or would like to commiserate/celebrate the Ravens (Steelers fans do NOT hmu), feel free to reach out to him at jltucker@uchicago.edu.
Secretariat oversight:
Daniel Zhang, Under-secretary-general