Greatest social injustice of our time: McMUN’s PR team endorses the issue of gender equality

“Not only is it heartbreakingly unfair, but it is a major impediment to growth” — this is how G Clay Miller, Director of Public Relations, qualifies gender inequality, McMUN 2016’s grand theme.

Raised by his journalist mother, G Clay knows something about gender (in)equality. He grew up seeing a determined woman combine a full-time job and the education of her child, while at the same time never receiving any credit for this achievement. In the boys’ club that journalism can be, G Clay’s mother was initially assigned the title “Girl Editor”, inscribed on her desk placard.

Now you might say that this would not happen in our modern day, but Deputy Director of Public Relations Stephanie Claxton claims to experience gender inequality in daily interactions. It is ingrained in our habits, such as that of men systematically paying for women’s dinner. AO Chen, also Deputy Director of Public Relations, is further touched by the issue and well aware of male privilege. Working in the “old school” field of law, AO has experienced the male-driven power structure, reflected in panels strictly composed of male interviewees or sexist remarks at cocktails. His law firm however, Fasken Martineau, stands out of the lot by openly promoting Montreal women’s professional success through their “Feminine Force” initiative.

In response to the question of why they believed gender inequality to be one of the most pressing contemporary issues, the PR teamed stressed the sheer number of people affected by it and the extent of its impact, notably in economic terms. Borrowing Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau’s phrase, Stephanie believes the situation must change simply because “[i]t’s 2016”. She sees it as “essential to organize thought-provoking events” around the theme, thereby engaging students destined to become future leaders capable of changing the current status quo.

Sponsors further participate in pushing forth McMUN’s theme of gender equality. Indeed, McMUN 2016’s headline sponsor, Fasken Martineau, is currently leading an initiative for women’s empowerment. It is critical to note that although the issue is now often addressed in academia, its acknowledgement remains all too rare in the professional field. Another of McMUN’s sponsors this year, FEM International, is a not-for-profit organization aiming to empower girls and women through socially and ecologically responsible entrepreneurship.

A PR team’s best friends, sponsors are also difficult to attract. Indeed, both Stephanie and AO listed the task of finding sponsors as their hardest one in the run-up to the conference. Whilst some “may fall off the face of the earth”, others may simply never respond. One can readily imagine AO’s frustration after sending twenty emails and seeing “nothing […] come back”! Through her experience, Stephanie developed the skill of judging when to pursue a non-responding potential sponsor, and when to let go.

“Any successes?”, one may ask. Well, there have been many this year! A big focus point was social media, making it “streamlined and coherent”. Stephanie worked with Media Coordinator Iris Boisseau to produce a consistent a brand image for McMUN. The PR team further developed a platform to follow when interacting with various potential partners, increasing the team’s professionalism. Largely involved in seeking sponsors, AO can now boast about their diversity. Indeed, this year’s sponsors include a corporate law firm (Fasken Martineau), along with a graduate school (The Bush School of Government and Public Service) and a tailoring shop (H.PADAR Tailor). Finally, the PR team is proud of its new initiative — the Tabling Fair — whereby NGOs, corporate sponsors, student-based groups and charities convened together to present their initiatives for gender equality to McMUN delegates.

The PR team’s priorities for McMUN 2016 were also successfully reached. Whilst G Clay’s priority was to have fun (and who can blame him?), Stephanie’s ambition was to help McMUN’s image evolve, thereby setting up the conference for present as well as future success. Her actualization of this has so far been resounding, as the median number of views for each McMUN post has skyrocketed from 500 to over 2,000.

Photo credits to McMUN/Marie Labrosse