International Relations student speaks for disarmament at United Nations

SUNY New Paltz student Sampson Oppedisano ’15 (International Relations/Asian Studies) gave an address before United Nation (UN) diplomats and non-governmental organization (NGO) representatives on May 1, as part of a youth delegation representing the disarmament group Ban All Nukes generation (BANg).

Oppedisano’s interest in non-proliferation was sparked while on a semester abroad in Nagasaki, Japan, at a monument marking the location of the epicenter of the 1945 nuclear bomb that was dropped on the city.

When he returned to New Paltz, Oppedisano spoke with Ş. İlgü Özler, associate professor of political science and international relations and director of the Global Engagement Program (GEP), about finding an internship opportunity with a disarmament organization.

“I was at a point where I felt like I had gotten a lot from my classroom studies, and was looking to go out and do something more practical,” Oppedisano said.

Each fall semester the GEP helps place students in New York City-based internships with international organizations. It helped Oppedisano find a position with the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security, a network of organizations that works with the UN to track and disseminate information on nations’ actions related to disarmament, peace, and security.

“I was at the UN almost every day,” Oppedisano said. “I was sitting in on official meetings, and I made great networking connections with diplomats and other people at the UN.”

When Oppedisano was selected to be one of 13 international youth delegates to the 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) at the UN – Hanna Kasahara ‘17 (International Relations) also represented SUNY New Paltz as a member of the delegation – those connections led to an invitation to address the attending diplomats and NGO representatives.

Oppedisano’s lecture focused on the often-detrimental humanitarian effects of WMD stockpiling, as he urged the international community to take concrete steps to disarm.

“We’re at a fork in the road,” Oppedisano said. “We can keep going down the path we’re on, making empty promises and not doing anything, and run the risk of dooming ourselves to a catastrophic future. Or, we can get back on the path of pragmatism and youthful idealism that led many government officials to pursue public service careers in the first place.”

Oppedisano intends to continue working with disarmament NGOs after graduation. He credits the extra-curricular scholarship he did at New Paltz with giving him the contacts and the confidence he’ll need to make a difference on this issue.

“If I hadn’t studied abroad or done the GEP program and the UN class, I wouldn’t be where I am now,” he said. “I wouldn’t have felt ready to give this speech, and I wouldn’t feel as ready to take the next step.”

Oppedisano’s address can be viewed at the following URL: https://youtu.be/U2GPd39jG8A?t=3m52s

More information about the Global Engagement Program is available online.