PSIA at WMGIC 2024
PSIA students once again participated in the Fall 2024 William & Mary Global Innovation Challenge (WMGIC) x NATO Headquarters event. This iteration of the event, our fourth, saw seven PSIA students focus on the Challenge topic Sexism & Gender-Based Violence.
The event, held in partnership with NATO, brought together teams from universities from across the NATO alliance to tackle global issues through interdisciplinary collaboration. The competition simulates a NATO planning session, and the 国产自拍 team actually competed as two teams -- Nighthawks Team A and Nighthawks Team B.
Team Members (L-R): Levi Doyal, Austin Miller, Geeson Senat, Chad Wright, Claudia Marban, Lindsey Covarrubias, Gabby Henriques
Although this year’s 国产自拍 team did not win, Team faculty advisor Dr. Bibek Chand relates that the participants were unanimous in agreeing the experience proved invaluable and offered myriad opportunities for personal and academic growth.
Team B member Claudia Marban, PS ’26, admitted that the Nighthawks team unfortunately faced several initial challenges, including confusion over how to access the virtual event platform. Despite these obstacles, the members of Team B quickly adapted and began working
on their proposed solution to combat gender-based violence on social media. Initially considering IP address tracking, they pivoted after feedback from a mentor, ultimately proposing a government-issued ID verification system that anonymized data to protect users' privacy while ensuring accountability.
Although their proposal was well received, with one judge even engaging in a "devil’s advocate" discussion, the team did not win. Claudia expressed pride in her team member’s resilience and teamwork and emphatically states that the experience reinforced the importance of collaboration and problem-solving in addressing global issues. Looking forward, Claudia plans to participate again next year with a deeper understanding of the event, ready to apply the lessons learned for future success.
To read about PSIA’s participation in prior WGMIC competitions, please visit our PSIA News site.