The faces behind our organization’s success

CIRA Executive Board

Thomas Ketterer, President

Thomas is a senior from Apex, NC majoring in Mathematics and Philosophy. He first became interested in International Relations through Model UN, and continued his involvement in college through moMUNtum (before it was a part of CIRA!), UNCMUNC and MUNCH. He has staffed both conferences every year, being a crisis director four of those times and Director of Operations once. Thomas is very happy to be serving as your president, and is working towards expanding the opportunities we give our members throughout all of our branches. Outside of CIRA he is a member of Carolina Jump Rope and loves to stay in with his friends.

Sunhee Frecker, Vice President

Sunhee Frecker is a senior from Wake Forest, NC, majoring in Peace, War, and Defense (PWAD) and Economics with a minor in Journalism. She started Model UN in high school (holy unc) and has been traveling the circuit ever since. Sunhee also serves as the Vice President for the Carolina International Relations Association. When she’s not double del-ing or emailing head dels, she loves to watch Carolina basketball, listen to new music, and try new foods on Franklin St!

CarolinaMUN

  • Irine Raju is a sophomore from Cary, NC majoring in Political Science and Peace, War, and Defense. She has been doing Model UN since her sophomore year of high school (competing in conferences like MUNCH, UNC's highschool conference!). She is currently the Head Delegate of UNC's Model UN Travel Team where she competes in conferences around North America and leads a team of highly trained and talented delegates from UNC. Within CIRA she has also chaired for MUNCH for two years, was a USG for UNCMUNC last year, and is now the director of logistics for the upcoming UNCMUNC. Outside of CIRA, you can find Irine in UNC's student government, working at Hollister, or ignoring her homework at a new coffee shop.

  • Luke is a Sophomore from Farmville, North Carolina, majoring in Business Administration and Peace, War, & Defense. He first became involved in CIRA as a participant in MUNCH during his junior year of high school. Since coming to UNC, he has served as a Chair and Crisis Director at both UNCMUNC and MUNCH, while competing across the country as Head Delegate of the CarolinaMUN travel Model United Nations team. Luke is excited to be part of CarolinaMUN’s invigorating culture and new initiatives to mentor and encourage every delegate as they travel to new cities and even bigger heights this year!

MUNCH

  • Colson is a senior from Chapel Hill, NC majoring in Public Policy and History. He is currently dual-enrolled in UNC's Master's of Public Policy Program. He has been involved with MUN since middle school and a member of CIRA for three years. Colson has been both a staffer and Secretariat member for both of UNC's Model UN conferences. As a high schooler, Colson attended MUNCH and his favorite part of his role as MUNCH Director-General is being able to facilitate that same experience for others. Outside of CIRA, Colson enjoys Carolina sports, boxing, and political discourse.

  • Maggie is a senior majoring in Business Administration. She started participating in Model UN during her freshman year of high school. Since then, she has competed in many different GA and crisis-style committees. As a UNC student, she has served as a Chair, Crisis Director, Under-Secretary-General, and Chief of Staff for conferences hosted on campus. Outside the committee room, she enjoys spending time on the quad with friends, listening to podcasts, and going to concerts.

UNCMUNC

  • Pranav is a sophomore from Cary, NC, majoring in Public Policy and Media & Journalism on the Ad/PR track. He first became involved with CIRA during his first year at UNC, competing with CarolinaMUN and staffing UNCMUNC XV. He has also served as a JFAC design editor, a USG for UNCMUNC XVI, and a Vice Head Delegate for CarolinaMUN. Pranav is currently serving as the Director-General for UNCMUNC XVII, where he hopes to bring a new level of engagement and creativity to the circuit. Outside of CIRA, Pranav is involved in the swim club AND Student Government, and enjoys going to the gym and exploring the outdoors.

  • Marvin is a senior from Nashville, TN, double majoring in Public Policy and Peace, War, and Defense with a Business (coloring) minor. He first got involved with Model UN during his first year at Case Western Reserve University and continued after transferring to UNC, where he competes on the collegiate circuit. He has served as Director of Logistics for UNCMUNC XVI, Head Delegate of CarolinaMUN, and Director of Campus Affairs. Marvin is grateful and thrilled to be running UNCMUNC XVII as Secretary-General! Outside of CIRA, you can find Marvin in the press box as a sportswriter for The Daily Tar Heel, listening to an inordinate amount of music, and riding buses as an intern for the MBTA and WMATA.

  • Kayla is a junior Public Policy and English double major and PPE minor from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. When she’s not building Star Wars Legos or writing movie reviews (thecinemagazine.com– shameless plug), there’s no secret third option because that’s what she loves doing. You will almost always find her deeply invested in a cheesy romance novel and, if the time of day is right, singing and dancing to country music! In terms of CIRA, she is Chief of Staff of UNCMUNC XVII and Co-Director of UNC moMUNtum alongside the lovely Lindsay McRae. She’s also a huge Heat fan (and Tar Heels ofc) and is the most competitive word hunt player you’ll probably ever encounter.

MoMUNtum

  • Kayla is a junior Public Policy and English double major and PPE minor from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. When she’s not building Star Wars Legos or writing movie reviews (thecinemagazine.com– shameless plug), there’s no secret third option because that’s what she loves doing. You will almost always find her deeply invested in a cheesy romance novel and, if the time of day is right, singing and dancing to country music! In terms of CIRA, she is Chief of Staff of UNCMUNC XVII and Co-Director of UNC moMUNtum alongside the lovely Lindsay McRae. She’s also a huge Heat fan (and Tar Heels ofc) and is the most competitive word hunt player you’ll probably ever encounter.

  • Junior History B.A. with minors in Philosophy and Politics, Philosophy, and Economics (PPE)

Journal of Foreign Affairs

  • Daniela Paris is a fourth-year Political Science and Peace, War, and Defense student. She enjoys learning about foreign affairs, reading about foreign affairs, and most importantly, writing about foreign affairs, with focuses on post-conflict resolution and peacekeeping as well as Sub-Saharan Africa. Outside of being the CO-Editor in Chief for JFAC, Daniela has served on the board for UNC Women in National Security, where she facilitated connections between students and national security professionals. In her spare time, she enjoys climbing and reading.

  • Jemimah is a senior at UNC-Chapel Hill, majoring in Political Science with a minor in Business. She is passionate about international relations, foreign policy, history, and politics, with a strong focus on pursuing a career in law. She has worked with JFAC since her freshman year of college and enjoys the collaboration and community she has found. Outside of JFAC, she is involved with the NC Fellows Program, Tarheel Table, the NC Conservation Network, and more.  In her free time, she enjoys reading, writing/editing, volunteering at her church and for different causes, as well as hanging out with others.

Campus Affairs

  • Jackson is a sophomore from Summerfield, North Carolina and is double majoring in Political Science and Economics with a minor in data science. He has been involved with Model UN since his first week of high school and has been heavily involved ever since. He currently serves as Director of Campus Affairs for CIRA and served as head chair for a crisis committee at MUNCH XXVI. Outside of CIRA, Jackson loves hiking, kayaking, and watching Modern Family.

External Affairs

  • Liam is a sophomore from Apex, NC, majoring in Statistics and Political Science with a minor in music. He has been involved in Model UN since his sophomore year of high school, when he attended MUNCH and helped run his the Apex High School Model UN team. In CIRA, he has been on the travel team, served as director of External Affairs, and served on the secretariats for both UNCMUNC and MUNCH, focusing on running specialized/GAP committees. Outside of CIRA, Liam is the co-director of PORG, which conducts campus public opinion polling, the Undergraduate Senate, and the UNC Symphony Orchestra, where he plays bassoon and contrabassoon.

Finance and Oversight