Greetings from Orlando, where I have been the last few days with University’s mock trial team which was competing in the 30th American Mock Trial Association (AMTA) National Championship Tournament. As I noted in an earlier dispatch, this is the 18th year in a row that Furman has qualified for this event.
I am delighted to report that our team finished in 7th place in its 24-team division. Earning a top-ten finish is considered the gold standard in our event, and this is the standard that the Paladins have met in 15 of our 18 trips to the finals.
Our record was 7 wins and 5 losses: We took all three ballots from Kansas State; won one and lost two against Michigan (4th place team); won two and lost one against Yale (honorable mention team); and won one and lost two against New Mexico (6th place team).
I also am pleased that Kiersty DeGroote ’14, Lyman, SC, and Katherine Martin ’14, Snellville, GA, earned All-American Attorney Awards; the only other school that had two outstanding attorney awards in either division was Harvard. Kiersty will be a first-year law student at Wake Forest in the fall, and Katherine is still making up her mind between Vanderbilt and Georgia Law, though she may be open to other last-minute suitors.
We have two other seniors on the team. Andrew Mueller will be spending the 14-15 school year in Germany as a Fulbright Scholar, and Caley DeGroote will join her twin sister at Wake Forest Law.
All of our seniors are extraordinary young people, and they will be sorely missed.
The team members are:
Katherine Martin ’14, Snellville, GA
Kiersty DeGroote ’14, Lyman, SC
Caley DeGroote, ’14, Lyman, SC
Andrew Mueller, ’14, Tinley Park, IL
Dustin Magaziner ’15, Cherry Hill, NJ
Nathan Thompson ’16, Arlington, VA
Katilyn Pugh, ’17, Edgefield, SC
Mara Hershberger ’15, Martinsburg, PA
Chelsey Dawson ’17, Media, PA
Julia Reynolds ’17, Concord, MA
Katherine Sieve ’17, Naperville, IL
The team is coached by Lindsay Builder ’07, D. Brad Rustin ’03, Mark Fessler ’05, Mitchell Goldsmith ’06, Sam Tooker ’06, Angela Littlejohn, John Bateman, and Thomas Azar.
On Thursday, the red carpet was rolled out for the team by Judge Alice Blackwell ’77 and Ray Colado ’94. Judge Blackwell arranged for us to use a courtroom at the Orange County Courthouse for a scrimmage with Northwood University. Following the scrimmage, Judge Blackwell gave us the VIP tour of the courtroom where the Casey Anthony trial took place. What a wonderful start to our time in Orlando. Later in the day, the team hosted another scrimmage with UCLA, which won the national championship earlier today, at the Commerce National Bank and Trust in Winter Park. Ray Colado, the Bank’s President, is a former student of mine. Ray set up the foyer of the bank for our scrimmage with the Bruins, provided pizza and drinks, and brought one of his children to the event. It was a splendid evening. This is not the first time that Judge Blackwell and Mr. Colado have extended their hospitality to me—they are definitely proud Paladins.
Thanks to all of our supporters—the Furman administration, my faculty colleagues, especially those in the political science department, the Student Government Association, and the many folks on this list who have supported us in many ways, including financially.
Now that the national championship is over, we will finish our work in recruiting first-year students for the class of 2018, make our final preparations for our summer mock trial camps, prepare for the summer board meeting of the American Mock Trial Association, and start recruiting mock trial students for the class of 2019!
Best wishes to all,
Glen