Principia’s Model Illinois Teams Earn Awards
Principians competed in the Model Illinois Government Moot Court in Springfield, Illinois, in early March, bringing the following awards—and valuable public speaking experience—back to campus:
First Place, Best Team—Connor Fiddler and Emelie Fredrikson
Third Place, Best Team—Maddie Demaree and Sean O’Hagan
Best Attorney—Emelie Fredrikson
Best First-Year Attorney—Gabriella (Brie) Burns
Patterned after law school moot court competitions, Model Illinois Moot Court is an annual, statewide, intercollegiate simulation of oral arguments before the Illinois State Supreme Court. This year’s case involved a First Amendment issue in both federal and state law concerning an inflammatory citizen post on a sheriff's department’s Facebook page. Students researched the case prior to the competition, preparing arguments on both sides of the case, which they presented before panels of attorneys and law student “judges” during the two-and-a-half-day event.
Students often find that performing under pressure is the greatest challenge—and the point where the most valuable learning takes place. “Giving an argument in front of a panel of nine judges who continually interrupt to counteract your argument is one of the scariest, but most rewarding, experiences I've had during college,” says junior Emelie Fredrikson, a global studies and economics double major. Her team partner agrees: “We spent many hours preparing for the competition and were very grateful to see our hard work validated,” says junior Connor Fiddler, a political science and history double major. “The competition forces you to be your best and makes you rely on your intellectual capabilities like no other competition can.”
Practice Defending What Is Right
Junior Maddi Demaree, a political science and educational studies double major, shared the connection she sees between moot court competition and the study and practice of Christian Science:
I love treasuring the ideas of justice and truth, and how the purpose of this competition is to practice defending what is right! When giving a Christian Science treatment, we constantly refer to precedent (what we know to be true already) and stand firm in our argument, no matter what may be thrown at us.
There was one round this year when the justices' challenges to my argument were very aggressive and felt personal in nature—and I ended up not doing as well that round because I was so surprised. The next day I was able to compete again and planned very specifically that I could remain poised no matter how the justices acted towards me. Unsurprisingly, I was much more successful that round. Such a great lesson for life—calm and clear thinking is what God gives, and we can expect to maintain that in every situation!
“Principia has been participating in Model Illinois Moot Court for nearly 25 years, but it’s been a number of years since we have done so well,” says Professor John Williams (C'76) of the Political Science Department and the team’s coach. Principia succeeded in a field of teams from much larger institutions, Williams notes, including the University of Illinois-Springfield, Eastern Illinois University, and Millikin University.
No surprise, this year’s success made the team eager for more. “I'm already looking forward to participating next year!” Connor notes.