Knightly News

This summer, Episcopal junior Miniya Malone represented Louisiana and Episcopal at the YMCA’s Conference on National Affairs. The event is held annually at the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain, North Carolina. Miniya equates the conference to a “nation-wide Youth Legislature, in which students from all across the country create proposals, much like bills, on issues that have national or international importance to the United States. These proposals then go to committees for debate where they are ranked based off of national importance, feasibility, research, presentation, and originality. These rankings are very important because only the top 25% of proposals from Committees A and B advance to Committee C, and from Committee C only 25% of that 25% will advance to either GA or Plenary, where proposals can finally be voted on by pass/fail.”

Miniya had tremendous success at the conference and represented her state and school well. Read more about what inspired her.

Being the first student from Episcopal to ever go to CONA, and not knowing anybody else from the Louisiana delegation, I was at first very nervous and hesitant to go. However, it soon became a very pivotal experience for me. Inspired by being around so many like-minded individuals (and perhaps motivated by the fact that I would likely never see any of them again), I found the confidence to put myself out there and became a formidable debater and speaker. This allowed me to make many friends, both within the Louisiana delegation and from other states such as New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. 

My proposal, entitled "Give Non-Voting House Representatives Voting Power," did exactly that by granting a vote to the House representatives of US territories and the District of Columbia. This proposal was very personal to me, as my entire family is from the US Virgin Islands, an American territory, and I know first-hand the negative effects on morale and patriotism caused by lack of proper representation in these areas. I truly believe that it was my passion about the subject and personal anecdotes even moreso than my debating skills that allowed my proposal to make it into the top 6% of all proposals, making it out of Committee C into GA and passing! My proposal was 1 of only about 33 out of a total of 530 national proposals that passed, and it was the only proposal from Louisiana to do so.

I am so happy that I got to represent Episcopal, Louisiana, and most importantly my heritage as a Virgin Islander through my success. To me, being able to act as a voice for the rights of territories was by far the most meaningful part of the experience. It was so heart-warming to see so many people agreeing with me about how important it is that territories get fairly represented within our government. The experience was by no means easy, especially with up to 8 hours of debate every day, including some days of over 4 hours of debate consecutively, but I was able to prove to myself that my opinions and experiences are unique and important, and if I speak with enough confidence I can convince others of the same. 

Join us in congratulating Miniya on her summer success!

Miniya Malone is an Episcopal junior who has attended Episcopal for three years. She enjoys participating in Youth Leg, Model United Nations, International Thespian Society, Select Choir, Quiz Bowl, and Mu Alpha Theta, where she serves as Tournament Director. This year she will serve on the YMCA Youth and Government State Board as House Floor Leader. 

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