ECC to take on Ivy Leaguers at mock trial tournament

U.S. News and World Report might not rank Harvard University and Elgin Community College in the same category, but a prestigious tournament does.

ECC will be the only community college competing in Harvard's annual Crimson Classic mock trial tournament, to be held Nov. 7-8 in Boston.

The team will compete against some of the most prestigious Ivy League schools - Yale, Dartmouth, Princeton and Cornell.

"This is remarkable for these students," team adviser and ECC paralegal professor Ronald Kowalczyk said. "These are nontraditional students who have full-time jobs and families to care for, yet they put in a tremendous amount of work."

Two years ago, ECC didn't even have a mock trial team. In the fall of 2007, Kowalczyk was approached by a student who had participated in mock trial in high school, and was hoping to join one in college.

Kowalczyk started the group, and in the first year students competed in just one tournament. Last year was the first full season.

"We've definitely grown since that first year," said ECC student and team President Anastasia "Asia" Toufexis of Elgin.

Nine of the team's 40 students were selected to compete in the upcoming Harvard tournament, Kowalczyk said. They will debate a murder case that each school received this summer.

In the coming days, Toufexis said, the team will squeeze in lots of extra practice, particularly on attorney-witness pairing.

ECC got into the tournament, Kowalczyk said, by persistence. He had written the college several times, and a few months ago, was told ECC was on the Crimson Classic waiting list. After another team canceled, he got the call.

Along with being the only community college to compete in the Harvard tournament, ECC is one of only two community colleges competing in American Mock Trial Association tournaments.

Kowalczyk has begun teaching mock trial classes so students "can get credit for the work they're doing."

College President David Sam is flying out for the tournament.

"They've been amazingly supportive of the whole thing," Kowalczyk said. "The students are obviously a little bit nervous."