ECC hosts inaugural mock trial tournament

Mock trial teams from Elgin Community College have proved their mettle on campuses across the country. This weekend, the team will have the opportunity to defend its home turf during the inaugural Golden Gavel Tournament.

The tournament runs Saturday and Sunday in the new Multipurpose Center. Team leaders say as far as they know, it is the first time a community college team has hosted a sanctioned tournament.

“There are only five or six community colleges registered to compete with the American Mock Trial Association, and as far as we can tell we are the only ones to host a tournament,” said Rebecca Koper, a coach who also competed on the ECC team. “It is the first one I have heard of in the six years I have been involved.”

Teams from colleges and universities across the Midwest — 16 in all from Nebraska to Ohio — will compete in four rounds, arguing a criminal case in which a driver is accused of driving while under the influence of alcohol and killing the daughter of a prominent public figure.

“It is really exciting because we have gotten to travel to other campuses, so this lets us show other schools what we have,” said Judie Spence, a team captain who is completing her associate degree in paralegal at ECC. “It is an honor to compete against these schools, so to have them on our own turf is especially exciting.”

This year, Spence is the lone returner to the 15-member team.

That’s not surprising for the ECC team, said Ron Kowalczyk, instructional coordinator of the college’s paralegal program.

“We are one of only a few community colleges to have a mock trial team and all of our students are freshman or sophomore status,” Kowalczyk said. “It is always interesting for us because we are biologically older than other teams but scholastically younger. Other teams are usually juniors and seniors.”

That has not stopped past ECC mock trial teams from notching some great success, including knocking off a seasoned Yale team in 2009.

“Our students are extremely devoted and hardworking,” Koper said. “They want to be there rather than just doing it to have something to put on their resumes. They work on it at all hours of the day, some while balancing families and full-time jobs or both.”

The tournament is open to public. Competition is from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12, and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov 13.