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YSU teams make good showing at national competition
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
Photo
Members of Youngstown State University’s Moot Court Team, from left, James Toliver of Youngstown, a sophomore; and Mark Cornman, Travis Watson and Kevin Hulick, all juniors from Austintown; traveled to Tulane University in New Orleans last month to compete in the American Collegiate Moot Court Association’s national competition.
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
Being argumentative often isn’t considered a positive character trait, but it’s an attribute that helped four Youngstown State University students get to national competition.
Kevin Hulick and Travis Watson and James Toliver and Mark Cornman — two teams on YSU’s Moot Court — competed last month in the American Collegiate Moot Court Association’s national contest at Tulane University in New Orleans.
The teams are coached by Atty. Ron Slipski, a part-time YSU professor.
“Never before have two teams qualified for nationals,” Slipski said. “No YSU team, before this year, ever reached the ‘sweet sixteen.’”
That was the Hulick- Watson team, both of Austintown, which was never defeated by a unanimous decision. The teams started working on their case in June and spent part of their Christmas vacation preparing for the national competition.
“In every round of competition, they won at least one judge,” Slipski said. “This is true even of their loss in the sweet sixteen — a good showing.”
Toliver, of Youngstown, and Cornman, of Austintown, didn’t advance to the second day of competition. The round they lost was to the team that became the national champions.
The teams plan to continue with moot court next year and say the national competition helped them see where they can improve.
Watson said the teams will brush up on their forensic skills which make up part of their scores. It’s about more than how well a team presents arguments and answers questions, it’s about performance, too, Watson said.
All of the team members honed their speaking skills as members of their high schools’ debate teams.
The four YSU students plan to go to law school upon graduation. They say their participation in the moot court solidified those plans.
Hulick hasn’t decided what type of law he’ll pursue after passing the bar examination.
“I want to do humanitarian and international law,” Toliver said.
Like issues they argue in moot court, humanitarian law deals with constitutional issues, he said.
Cornman plans to pursue a career in criminal law, likely starting as judge advocate general officer in the military.
The competition also includes a brief-writing section, where each team submits a brief on the side of their choice. Watson and Hulick’s brief placed third in the nation, their second year to place in the brief-writing contest. Last year, they earned second place.
Other colleges and universities represented at the competition included Baylor University, Patrick Henry College, the College of Wooster, Cal State Long Beach and Cal State Fullerton.
The contestants present oral arguments about a constitutional issue before a panel of judges who act as the U.S. Supreme Court. Judges may be attorneys, judges or law students.
This year’s case dealt with the national health care and same-sex marriage.
Paul Sracic, chairman of YSU’s political science department, started moot court at the university. He said the competition teaches students about the validity of different views.
The teams got help from attorneys, judges and professors in preparing for the competition.
“I just want to thank the community and YSU for all of their support,” Toliver said.