The Department of Social Sciences conference room in Lincoln Hall was buzzing with activity Nov. 1 as cadets prepared for the 73rd annual Student Conference on U.S. Affairs (SCUSA).
The four-day event ran from Nov. 2-5 and was attended by over 200 undergraduate students from across the country and around the world who engaged in discussions about domestic and foreign policy issues facing the United States.
This year’s theme was “American Foreign Policy in an Era of Polarized Politics and Revisionist Powers.” It is the largest conference of civilian and military relations of its kind.
To prepare for the event, cadets cut name tags, filled packets with booklets, notebooks and tumblers for the participants, and dashed in and out to and from various tasks, including picking up delegates from their respective points of arrival.
Class of 2023 Cadet Benjamin Mayo, commander of the SCUSA 73 staff, explained the significance of this year’s event for the cadets. It is the first conference since 2019 to be held in person. In 2020, the event was cancelled due to COVID-19, and while it resumed in 2021, it was at half capacity, with restrictions.
“We’re glad to see it coming back to its normal capacity,” Mayo said.
The SCUSA executive team was made up of Mayo, Class of 2023 Cadet Alex Inman, the command sergeant major, and Class of 2024 Cadet Zach Vernier, the executive officer, who handled the day-to-day operations and planning for the conference, which included helping the cadets coordinate their schedules as they juggled several activities outside of SCUSA.
Mayo and Inman explained that the staff worked as a battalion-level operation to prepare for the conference. Mayo described how the process worked.
“We (he and Inman) are at the pinnacle of the battalion staff and then below us we have our different shops, as they’re called, that function within the SCUSA staff to put on the conference,” Mayo explained.
According to Inman, preparation began as early as August, when the cadets returned to campus.
“That’s the point where the staff (began)meetings,” Inman said.
At these gatherings, the staff discussed where delegates were seated and how they would get on post, among other matters.
Both Mayo and Inman said that the cadets were given a great deal of autonomy, teaching them a lot about the battalion operations process.
“(The planning) leaves a lot of responsibility on not just the command team, but all the way down to the individual staff member,” Inman said. “This is all done by cadets, researched by cadets. The whole process is executed by us and it’s incredibly informative.”
That process clearly played out in the conference room, where SCUSA staff Personnel Officer (S1), Class of 2024 Cadet Megan Nkamwa, explained her role, which involved receiving delegates and preparing packets, the latter of which she was engaged with as she discussed some of the challenges of her position.
“You have to be able to anticipate problems,” Nkamwa said. For example, she said that some delegates arrived early, needing transportation and lodging arrangements made quickly. Additionally, Nkamwa said that in the case of international delegates, there could be a language barrier.
Nkamwa noted that the packets were a significant aspect of the conference, as they gave delegates a sense of belonging and participation in the event.
Other S-shop leaders included Class of 2024 Cadet Isabella Chirico, security officer (S2), and Class of 2023 Cadet Caroline Sheard, operations officer (S3).
Mayo credited Sheard with being the “glue” holding everything together. Her responsibilities included reserving conference rooms and communicating with the various departments involved with the conference.
Completing the S-shop were Class of 2023 Cadet Jachen Bales, supply officer (S4); Class of 2024 Cadet Aaron Voudrie, public affairs officer (S5); and Class of 2024 Cadet Benjamin Dubetsky, communications officer (S6).
The staff also included commanders who oversaw specific operations. The operation commanders were Class of 2024 Cadet Enrique Mendoza, transportation commander; Class of 2023 Cadet Derick Henderson, cadet point of contact; Class of 2024 Cadet Christian Espos, task force commander; and Class of 2023 Cadet Chiara Wurdack, virtual conference commander.
Mayo said that this year marked a change in the job distribution from past years. S-shops are currently run by both first and second class cadets, previously run by only first class cadets, with third and fourth class cadets working in other roles, which were previously held by second and third class cadets.
Besides learning how a battalion operates, the cadets also learned leadership qualities, such as how to function within the staff and how to delegate.
“It’s a massive opportunity for professional development for cadets,” Mayo said. Inman agreed, adding, “It’s invaluable to us.”
The most important aspect of the conference, according to Mayo, was exposing the cadets to civil-military relations, an important initiative for Dean of the Academic Board Brig. Gen. Shane Reeves.
“We have the ability to communicate directly with contemporary students across the U.S. and in some cases different parts of the world,” Mayo said. “This is one of the first, if not the first, opportunity to lay a good foundation to have those successful relationships in the future here at West Point, which is why we believe it’s so important to have that discourse between civilian and military delegates.”
In addition to the U.S. civilian students the cadets interact with, they had the opportunity to also work alongside international students, strengthening our international partnerships and exploring international perspectives to enduring challenges.
To learn more about the SCUSA conference, visit https://www.westpoint.edu/academics/academic-departments/social-science….