All’s Well that Ends Well(s Fargo): The Creation of Wells Fargo, 1852
Miners, cowboys, and bankers. Welcome to the Wild West.
It’s 1852, and the American frontier is under siege by fortune-seekers whose shared thirst for gold has led them to a standoff. The United States had acquired vast, untrodden territory from the Mexican-American war four years prior, which sparked a mass exodus of fortune-seekers onto the frontier. Now, after the discovery of gold in 1848, the California gold rush is in full swing, with some 300,000 migrants now teeming among Californian cities. This has had an outsized economic impact—not only in California but also on a national and international scale. Who took the reins of these new riches? Henry Wells and William Fargo did, in large part.
These two businessmen from New York and Vermont entered the express mail and financial services industries together by co-founding American Express on the east coast. Initially, they had high hopes of it expanding west, but its shareholders were scared off by Adams & Company. Never ones to give up, Wells and Fargo founded Wells Fargo to realize their ambitions. As board members of this burgeoning bank in the flourishing American West, delegates will be tasked with whipping Wells Fargo into high gear by expanding its banking, stagecoach, and express networks. This will be no easy feat. Economic downturns and ghost towns; aggressive competition from banking rivals; resistance from local governments and outlaws all threaten its fate. Each board member will play a vital role in establishing a new order in the Wild West through diplomacy with those who threaten them the most. In doing so, they will not only forge Wells Fargo’s future, but also the future of the American West.
Gregory Caesar
Chair
Gregory is a third-year majoring in computer science and data science, hailing from Westchester, New York. He only has a vague recollection of how he was whisked away to the MUNiverse, which he had evaded throughout his K–12 years. All he recalls is being cast into a trance-like state by the entrancing aroma of freshly-baked cookies at UChicago’s student club fair in his first year. He suspects that was when he signed up for MUNUC, UChicago’s high school MUN conference; in exchange for sugary treats, he agreed to serve as an Assistant Chair for the “Foreign Policy Team of George H.W. Bush, 1989” crisis committee. Having been persuaded to remain in the MUNiverse (which may or may not have involved more sugary incentives), he subsequently served as an Assistant Chair for ChoMUN XXV on the “Queen of Kings: The Cabinet of Queen Zenobia, 270 A.D.” crisis committee. Last year, he chaired for the first time at ChoMUN XXVI on “Nothing Gets Past(a) Mother: Menelik II’s Cabinet, 1889.”
At the time of writing, Gregory works as a software developer, runs a newspaper’s podcast branch, and edits a finance journal. He is an avid aviation enthusiast and maintains an extensive collection of mementos. You can reach him at gregoryc25@uchicago.edu to raise any questions, concerns, or theories about how the MUNiverse took hold of him.
Leon Gold
Crisis Director
Leon is a third year majoring in Physics and Geophysics, hailing from Pasadena, California. He first did MUN in a high school club of two people that simulated the aftermath of the Pelopenesian war. Despite being a debate kid, the sheer quantity of high quality merch and enthusiasm of the MUN members at the first year student activities fair got him to join the MUNUC 2022 conference, where he served as the Assistant Chair for the “Foreign Policy Team of George H.W. Bush, 1989” crisis committee. Over the course of this process, Leon became enthusiastic about the high stakes world of crisis notes and breaks and procured a truly colossal quantity of merch and snacks along the way. Needing more MUN merch, he also served as an Assistant Chair for ChoMUN XXV on the “Queen of Kings: The Cabinet of Queen Zenobia, 270 A.D.” crisis committee later that year. The following year, he served as an Executive Assistant Chair for ChoMUN XXVI on “Nothing Gets Past(a) Mother: Menelik II’s Cabinet, 1889” where he helped craft the committee storyline, crisis breaks, and background guide.
At the time of writing, Leon works as a physics research assistant researching Bose-Fermi interactions at fractions of a degree above absolute zero and electromagnet technology. He is also a debater…ew I know, robot builder, and the Vice President of the University of Chicago Interhouse Council. He is an avid space, aviation, and basketball enthusiast. You can reach him at lgold@uchicago.edu if you have any questions about committee or his life.
D'Jhanir Harris Smith
CRISIS DIRECTOR
D’Jhanir is a second-year majoring in economics and data science, hailing from Washington, DC. He started his humble MUN beginnings by ACing for MUNUC and ChoMUN. Kangaroos and Cheese are a good way to describe it. From his enjoyable time ACing, D’Jhanir has decided to pursue MUN more competitively, and is an avid member of the UChicago MUN Team. The intrigue of crisis, backroom, and note runs has fueled his energetic MUN imagination, which should transfer over to crisis breaks as Crisis Director.
At the time of writing, D’Jhanir is looking eagerly to start his computer science journey through his Data Science Internship this Summer. He is a pretty big Nintendo nerd and is always on his journey to Catch ‘em all! You can reach him at dahs@uchicago.edu to discuss anything and everything, MUN related or not.
Secretariat oversight:
Victor brown, Under-secretary-general