Topic Summary

The year is 1595 and you’ve been approached with an opportunity to solve an incredible mystery and change the course of the New World. In 1585, Roanoke Colony was founded as an attempt to form the first permanent English settlement in America. Trouble arises as five years later, settlers return to the colony to find all 115 colonists have mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind one clue, carved into a tree: “CROATOAN”.

Now, it is 1595 and you are asked to not only reform Roanoke Colony in the name of England, but to also answer the question that plagues a nation: what happened to the lost colony of Roanoke?

Upon arriving, however, it has become increasingly clear that this mission won’t be as simple as it seems. Forming a colony from scratch comes with its own challenges: food, disease, relations with native populations, weather, infighting, and more. That being said, something caused the disappearance of the first Roanoke Colony. Those same forces continue to be at work in the area, threatening to ensure you all meet the same fate as the original 115 colonists. Will you be able to solve the mystery of Roanoke and take your place as an integral part of American history, or will you be the 116th victim of this cursed land?

Director Letter

Greetings delegates!

My name is Justin Ricketts and I am so excited to serve as your director for the Lost Colony of Roanoke Committee at this year’s HNMUN! 

I am a sophomore at Harvard, concentrating in both Neuroscience and English (and/or possibly with a secondary in Global Health & Health Policy). I come from Lake Worth, Florida (right between West Palm Beach and Boca Raton if you know where either of those two are; if not, I’m about an hour north of Miami), so as you can imagine, I’m still adjusting to the Boston winters. 

My first experience with Model UN came as I randomly chose to join Harvard’s competitive Model UN team my freshman spring, and I haven’t looked back since. Beyond Model UN, I love books and music more than anything. Reading has been hard recently, but I still am on my phone at 12:00 AM every Friday morning to listen to every song that has been released (especially in love with Daniel Caesar, Frank Ocean, SZA, Kendrick…the list goes on and I could talk about music for hours so I’m stopping myself here). Truthfully, I’m a chronically-online, recovering/former theater kid, who loves word games (my Wordle streak is still going strong).

When it comes to committee, I hope this will be a unique, thrilling, and memorable experience for all of us. I value, in myself and others, creativity above most, so I’m excited to see which of many paths we will fall on, as I hope you all are. Bring your best energy, be ready to be transported to a New World, transform yourself into a new person, and expect the unexpected. 

Until we meet,

Justin Ricketts

Director, The Lost Colony of Roanoke, 1585, Harvard National Model United Nations 2025

Crisis Director’s Letter

Good Day Delegates,

Allow me to be one of the first to welcome you to the 71st iteration of Harvard National Model United Nations, and–even more importantly–to the Lost Colony of Roanoke Committee!

My name is Victor Bowker, and I am a Sophomore at Harvard College. I am pursuing a concentration in Government as well as a Language Citation in Mandarin. 

Born and raised 45 minutes south of Cambridge, in Scituate, Mass, I grew up on the water. Spending my summer days tanning and teaching sailing was the ultimate gig, and it will forever be the best job I’ve ever had. If you ever have the opportunity to learn the art of sailing, I highly recommend it.

At Harvard, I compete with the Intercollegiate Model United Nations where I almost exclusively compete in crisis committees–other than that horrific GA in NYC last spring…don’t ask. I staffed both HMUN and HNMUN last year as an Assistant Director and I am so excited to be directing my own committee for HMUN and crisis directing for HNMUN! I consider myself a very exciting person, and you should expect crisis updates and committees to follow in that direction. 

Outside of MUN, I serve as the Co-President of Model Security Council, which serves as the recruiting group of Harvard’s International Relations Council. There, I work to recruit incoming Harvard College students into our Model UN and international relations programs! 

Delegates, I know some of you to be quite fierce. I encourage you to bring that ferocious dedication to the committee room, through interesting notes, broad and complex arcs, and compelling–but sparse–JPDs. 

Crack open a Red Bull, refill your stapler, and prepare for the most exciting committee of your college career.

See you soon,

Victor Bowker

Crisis Director, The Lost Colony of Roanoke, 1585, Harvard National Model United Nations 2025