After less than a year of being instated, ETSU’s Mock Trial team advanced to regionals, taking home two awards.
“Serving on the Mock Trial team serves students with perfect hands-on experience in the court room and with crafting logical and coherent thoughts, which serves as a means to an end,” said Trent White, Mock Trial president.
The Mock Trial team compete through the American Mock Trial Association, by whom they are provided a packet with a fictional case in which a party sues or accuses another party. The teams then prepare to recreate the case in competition. The students serve under two different roles: attorneys, who work the case, and witnesses, who use question and answer strategies to play a role.
The regional competition took place in Ohio and ETSU competed against 18 other teams from around the United States over a span of four days.
“I think the biggest takeaway from Mock Trial has been what teamwork can actually do,” said White. “That experience of working together to form a case and craft arguments, bonded us in a way that I’ve never experienced before.”
White explained the team was given their cases at the beginning of November, getting a later start than other. 10-15 students would come to meetings throughout the break to practice cross-examination questions, direct examination and practice their opening and closing statements.
ETSU took home the “Spirit of AMTA” and “Outstanding Witness” awards; “Spirit of AMTA” was presented to the team with the most spirit while presenting fair play and civility, and “Outstanding Witness” went to MaKenna Harrell.
“I want to thank first Kimberly McCorkle, the provost, for supporting our team and helping us prepare and work towards the competition. Also, Lindsay Daniel has been an incredible coach along with Mark Fulks and Harden Scragg,” said White. “And shout out to Katie Priester, as well as Colin Glennon, who serves as our sponsor.”
Tryouts for the Mock Trial team will be held in the spring, and you can find updates on their Instagram @etsumocktrial.
