Mock Trial at UCSC is a competitive collegiate team that argues legal cases judged by attorneys and actual courtroom judges. As a team, we are expected to create a strong case theory supported by opening and closing statements as well as direct and cross examinations, and to demonstrate an understanding of the law and legal case theory. We compete at tournaments around the state against other universities while vying to win a spot in the annual national championships.
Our mission: Above all, to improve students' logical reasoning, argumentation, public speaking skills, and confidence. We help students learn to think on their feet and advocate for their ideas with passion and assertion. Our hope is that students can use their public speaking skills to further their future career and personal goals. Whether the goal of our mock trialers is to become an effective advocate in the legal field, find advantages in other professions, or promote causes and charities in their communities, we hope they will learn effective communication skills that they can transfer into all aspects of their life. We also hope to positively represent UC Santa Cruz by presenting both skill and character. While we work hard on performance and skill, we also emphasize sportsmanship. We are proud to have won the American Mock Trial Association Spirit Award at least three times in the past four years. By being both competitive and honorable, we hope to positively reflect upon our university and create a positive image for the Banana Slug community.
Our student-run model: Mock Trial at UCSC is proud to be one of the few entirely student-run teams in California. Many other universities have attorney judges, speech and drama coaches, and allocated budgets in the thousands of dollars to cover their various travel costs and expenses. Here at UCSC, students coach each other. We fund ourselves through fundraisers, donations, and our own personal money. We are incredibly proud of our independent model and find that it has been a great way to promote student agency, leadership skills, and responsibility. We have also been fortunate enough to remain competitive against teams with far greater resources. Each year our members win several individual performance awards at tournaments, and we advanced to the West Coast championships (ORCS) in 2015 and the national championships in 2011.
How can you help? While we are proud to be an independent, student-run team, it definitely comes with its challenges. Costs such as hotel rooms, transportation and gas, and tournament and registration fees often become a burden for our members. Costs can range from $2,000 to $3,500 a year, depending on how far we proceed in the competition, and we do not receive any funding from the university. With your help, we can ensure a secure financial future for our team. We hope to raise enough funds so that we will not have to ask our students for additional money and so we can ensure that anyone, regardless of their financial status, can participate in the team. We would also love to be able to raise additional funds to help with unexpected personal costs such as professional attire. Mock Trial places a heavy emphasis on professionalism, which comes in part from performance and presentation, but also professional attire. However, when many of our students come to UCSC, they do not own appropriate courtroom clothes. The high cost of suits and dress clothes can be a serious barrier for college students, and many of our members are often forced to forage through thrift stores and end up with worn out or ill-fitting clothes. With your donations we would love to set aside funds for a suit scholarship so all our students can enter competition feeling confident and professional. Our matching gift of $500 has been met, so let's keep those donations coming!
Finally, we would love to use any additional funds to make our team as competitive as possible. Without a coaching team, we need to get as much experience and exposure to other teams as possible. Currently our finances limit us to only local tournaments, and mostly we face teams within Northern California. If we could build a better travel budget, we would be able to travel to tournaments out of state. This would allow us not only to get exposed to more competition and hone our craft, but also to spread the UCSC name around the country.
For information and updates on the team, check out our Facebook page.
