Morehouse College Mock Trial
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[edit] Mock Trial
The Morehouse College Mock Trial Program, has grown from an upstart one-team program to a powerhouse that fields several teams. The primarily student-driven and student-developed organization began in the Fall of 2004 under the direction of Morehouse College's Pre-Law Society. As part of the College Mock Trial Circuit run by the American Mock Trial Association, Morehouse's Mock Trial teams compete in tournaments across the country.
As members of the program, students act as both attorneys and witnesses in simulated trials throughout the year. Before each competitive season begins, AMTA selects one fictional court case to be tried by 600+ colleges across the country and each team uses the same case for the entire year. At a typical tournament a team will compete two rounds as the defense and two rounds as the Prosecution/Plaintiff (depending on the nature of the case for that year). This forces students to sharpen their trial advocacy skills by approaching the case from multiple angles.
In the past two years, the school has established a niche for itself by being not just one of the only four competing teams to come from a Historically Black College University, but by also being the only all male team in the entire association.
The school began its 2005-2006 by competing and winning top third (3rd) in the Inaugural Ramblin' Wreck Invitational held by Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) . The school went on to continue its season by obtaining an undefeated victory at the 2006 Florida Gulf Regional Tournament at Florida A & M University - Tallahassee, FL by winning all 8 out of 8 of their scoring ballets. In addition to their prize of first place, four (4) competing members obtained individual awards.
Morehouse College faced and defeated teams including Georgia Tech, Emory University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and other highly qualified teams in order to receive a bid directly to the National Championship Tournament held in Des Moines, Iowa that following April. Over 600 teams participated in the American Mock Trial Association's Tournaments across the United States in 2006 [1]. Of those 600 teams, Morehouse was among the top 60 that earned an opportunity to compete at the National Championship Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa.
The team performed remarkably against such teams a Columbia University Columbia University and two (2) time former Champions, University California Los Angeles (UCLA). The team came away from their initial National Championship Tournament debut with an Honorable Mention. [2] The program continues to build upon past accomplishments. The increased support from Morehouse College Administration has enabled the Mock Trial Program to become a separate organization from its former parental organization, The Morehouse College Pre-law Society. As of the beginning of the 2006-2007 academic year, the Morehouse Mock Trial Program will continue as a distinct student organization with elected officials and due-paying members.
