OC’s mock trial team takes fourth place at regional competition in just its third semester 

OC’s team competed against 16 colleges and universities in the Kangaroo Brawl last weekend in Texas.

February 4, 2020 - Oklahoma Christian University strives to create opportunities for the students to think critically, communicate clearly and solve complex problems. Each of those experiences can be found through participating in OC’s Mock Trial team. 

Mock trial is a series of competitions for students who are interested in the federal court system and politics. OC’s team travels to different universities to enact lawyers and witnesses in a changing, fictional court case against other students across the nation. One team plays the witnesses and lawyers on the prosecution while the other plays the defense. Each team is called to gather evidence, question witnesses and come up with their own arguments and objections in the created scenario. 

Mock trial is judged and scored in a series of rounds by actual attorneys and judges. The panelists choose a winner for each round to advance, while the losing school is given positive and constructive feedback on their case. 

Auditions for OC’s Mock Trial team began in the spring of 2019. The team is open to students of all departments, though 11 of the 13 students are from the College of Liberal Arts. Since that spring, students, including senior Turner Smith, have noticed significant growth. 

“Since our first tournaments in the spring of 2019, the program has changed in a number of ways,” Smith said. “The most notable change is that our program now has experience. We walk into tournaments knowing what to expect and knowing how rounds will go. The learning curve in mock trial is huge, so getting past it has been a big change.” 

Despite only being around for two full semesters, the students have taken the program seriously and worked hard to succeed in the competitions. In the 2018-2019 competitions, Sam Day won a “Best Witness” award at the Kangaroo Bowl Invitational at Austin College. That same year, Turner Smith also won two “Best Attorney” awards at the American Mock Trial Association Regional. In the 2019-2020 season, Sonia Coffin won a “Best Witness” award with a perfect score at the Rice Bowl Invitational hosted by Rice University, and Turner Smith won “Best Attorney” for both the prosecution and defense at the Kangaroo Brawl in Sherman, Texas, where the entire team placed fourth overall. 

Chief Legal Officer Stephen Eck is the organizer of the OC team. Eck is proud of how far the students have come.

“OC Mock Trial has been an amazing experience,” Eck said. “They represent the school so well and participate at an extremely high level with NCAA Division-I universities.” 

Dean of the College of Liberal Arts Tina Winn has also expressed her pride in the team.

“I am impressed with the dedication and success of OC's student-led mock trial team,” Winn said. “Finishing fourth out of 16 schools, many of which are larger than and have a longer record of participation than OC, is a testament to the quality of our students and to the leadership of Stephen Eck.”

 With growing support of the OC community, and in preparation for the new semester, student participants have begun to set goals for the team. 

“This semester, we will be going to the Kangaroo Bowl Invitational and to our American Mock Trial Association Regional at the University of Oklahoma,” Smith said. “Our plan and hope is for us to qualify for the Open Round Championship Series after performing well at our regional.”

While the team works hard to advance in competitions, friends and fans can follow their progress on the Twitter page @OcMock that is run by Eck.