Students Shine at International NATO Competition

The international competition, sponsored by NATO headquarters and hosted by the College of William & Mary, brought together student teams from NATO member or partner nations “to propose the best way for NATO to counter disinformation from a policy perspective in one of the following topic areas: Artificial Intelligence, Public Health, Russia-Ukraine War, Gender-Based Violence, Terrorism, Climate Change, and Human Rights,” according to the host site. Each team was placed into a stream or competition group and given a case study pertaining to one of the topic areas. Teams then put together plans of action to combat disinformation according to the details of their case study before presenting their proposals before a panel of expert judges, who chose a winner from each stream.

Representing Hampden-Sydney under the name Hampden-Sydney League and competing in the India stream was Matty Walker ’28, Roland Brown ’28, Tristan Leidig ’28, and Hampton Brannon ’28. With each member in his first semester of college, the team’s first-place finish in their stream was exceptionally impressive. The Hampden-Sydney League’s plan of action to counter disinformation in human rights beat out teams from Georgia Tech, Stockton University, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Warsaw.  

“Disinformation is certainly a growing concern in the modern day,” says Hampton, the team’s elected spokesperson during the competition. “As technology advances and communication becomes more widely available, the opportunity for disinformation is growing exponentially.”

“Although disinformation in our age of digitalization has grown more difficult to deal with, I think that through the advice of technical experts and younger people who deal with such technologies, NATO and other organizations can sufficiently work to tackle the crisis at hand,” Roland adds. 

Assistant Professor of Government and Foreign Affairs Daniel Kuthy, who served as the team’s advisor, says that after initially mentioning the competition to the students, the team was extremely self-sufficient and required very little supervision or guidance. “Other than pitching the competition and providing some general advice, I did almost nothing,” Kuthy says. “Once I set them off in the direction of the competition, they ran the show entirely. This was completely their accomplishment.”

Kuthy did recruit Juan Tavera Moreno, a former student of Kuthy’s from Brescia University, who had participated in the competition previously, to speak with the Hampden-Sydney League and provide context and insight into the challenges ahead. “What impressed me the most in speaking with the team members and in their meeting with Juan is that they approached the conversations with a goal of trying to understand the structure of the problem they were going to face,” Kuthy says. “They asked questions, sought to understand, and never tried to assert themselves. By asking questions with humility, they showed how smart and mature they are.”

The competition was a fantastic introduction to the world of diplomacy and international politics for a group of students deeply interested in the field. “I plan on double majoring in foreign affairs and history, and I want to use those degrees to work as a diplomat,” says Tristan. “The idea of working directly with NATO on this project struck me as something that would not only help further my understanding of how some things in NATO work but also give me experience within the field.” 

After receiving a detailed case study, the team set to work on their plan of action, buckling down in Bortz Library and working from early afternoon until late in the night, remembers Matty. Tristan recalls the tense moment of realizing that three hours into their preparation, the team had misread the prompt, leading them to scrap their original idea and start fresh.

Undeterred, Tristan says, “We handled it by attacking the situation calmly, putting our heads down, and working on the new plan.”

Though the team is still young in their higher education careers, each student attributed part of their success to the preparation they have received in their first semesters at Hampden-Sydney. Roland, who is eager to make an impact in the field of global affairs and geopolitics, says, “My education at Hampden-Sydney, particularly through the Rhetoric Program, has prepared me thus far through helping me structure logical, reasonable arguments.” 

“I believe that our professionalism was a big part of our success within the competition, and Hampden-Sydney certainly has helped me become more presentable and professional in my first semester here,” Tristan adds. “I also think that my current classes, especially my foreign affairs class, directly helped me through the discussion-based environment. During the competition, my teammates and I were able to have productive dialogue and arguments that ultimately helped us create the best project we could.”

Over 400 students representing more than 130 academic institutions from more than 30 countries stepped up to the plate to tackle the difficult issue of disinformation during the NATO X WMGIC competition. Thanks to their own work ethic, the support and mentorship of dedicated Hampden-Sydney faculty members, and the rigorous academic preparation of the Hampden-Sydney experience, the Hampden-Sydney League earned their stripes on an international platform, taking home the gold and invaluable experience that they can build upon as they continue their journeys toward careers in foreign affairs.

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