STU Moot Court Qualifies Two More Teams for National Tournament

St. Thomas University Moot Court has qualified two more teams for the American Moot Court Association National Tournament in Orlando, Florida.

Alaina Mejia and Matt Oram, and Abbie LeBlanc and Telina Debly earned their spot at the national event during a regional competition in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.

“It was incredibly exciting. Bids to nationals are earned during knock-out rounds, which means right after finding out we qualified for nationals we were off to another round to continue the competition,” Mejia said.  “For me, it didn’t really sink in that we made it to nationals until the competition was over.”

The case at the regional event questioned the constitutionality of a law school’s affirmative action admissions policy, which gave preferential weight to male applicants, and the termination of an employee who spoke out against it.

Mejia and Oram faced teams from College of the Holy Cross, the United States Air Force Academy, Fitchburg State University, and Merrimack College. They were eliminated in the semifinal round by one of the host teams from Fitchburg State.

“I can’t give enough credit to Kathy Lewis and Dr. Amanda DiPaolo, as well as every other student in the class that helped with the preparation for this competition,” Oram said. “I think the true edge that St. Thomas has over other teams at competition is that we all work as one team and everyone wants to see each other do as well as possible.”

The STU Mooters were also among the top speakers at the event—Valeria Espinal was first, Emma Legere was second, Debly was third, and LeBlanc was eighth.

With this experience under his belt and a few more weeks to prepare, Oram feels confident heading into the National Tournament where he and Mejia, and LeBlanc and Debly will join the three other STU teams that qualified at the Tampa regional. 

“It was definitely intimidating going into my first competition not really knowing what to expect,” he said. “Now that I know what to expect it won’t be as intimidating going to Nationals.”

Mejia agreed.

“I have confidence in how well STU prepares their mooters for competition. Our university is a powerhouse that I’m proud to represent.”

The final group of STU Mooters will compete for a bid to nationals at a regional event November 30-December 1.