[331] MTSU Mock Trial Members Place 2nd In Regional Competition To Qualify For National Contest, Win Sportsmanship Trophy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 1, 2010
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Lisa L. Rollins, 615-898-2919, or lrollins@mtsu.edu

MTSU MOCK TRIAL MEMBERS PLACE 2nd IN REGIONAL COMPETITION
TO QUALIFY FOR NATIONAL CONTEST, WIN SPORTSMANSHIP TROPHY
MTSU Senior Austin Purvis Recognized with ‘Best Attorney’ Honors During Event

(MURFREESBORO)—An MTSU Mock Trial team won seven of eight ballots to place second among eight teams in a field of 30 from five southeastern states at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., on Feb. 27-28.
The MTSU team’s winning record has qualified its members a place at the Opening Round Championship tournament, which will be held at Greenville, S.C., in late March.
Dr. John Vile, a co-coach for MTSU Mock Trial, said that in the weekend contest’s opening round, MTSU won both ballots against a team from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In the second round, MTSU took two ballots from the University of Mississippi before splitting ballots with another team from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Finally, in the last round of competition, MTSU took both ballots against Auburn University.
MTSU’s winning team consisted of three MTSU students who played the role of attorneys; namely, Germantown senior Austin Purvis and Mount Juliet senior Daniel Vaughan, both political science majors, and Greenbrier junior David Haggard, an English major.
Four MTSU students served as witnesses in the contest: Jacob Strait, a senior political science major from Nashville; Nathan Brown, a freshman from Murfreesboro majoring in physics and mass communication; Rachel Harmon, a junior political science major from Atlanta, Ga.; and Samantha Farish, a freshman from Cookeville who is double majoring in political science and psychology.
Additionally, MTSU teams were awarded the tournament’s prestigious Spirit of AMTA title, which is the American Mock Trial Association’s award for good sportsmanship. Plus, MTSU’s Purvis was named one of the tournament’s best attorneys.
“MTSU ended up placing just behind Duke University, with its record of seven wins, a tie and a loss, and ahead of the University of Alabama and the University of Georgia, with 7-1 records,” observed Vile, who also serves as dean of MTSU’s University Honors College.
Vile noted that members of the team that qualified also placed second in a tournament at St. Louis, Mo., this school year and first at a tournament at Georgia Tech.
“The kind of experience and momentum (MTSU Mock Trial has achieved) should be valuable in positioning the team for the next level of competition,” he said.
Brandi Snow, a local attorney and MTSU mock-trial alumna also coach MTSU Mock Trial. Funding for MTSU Mock Trial is provided by the Department of Political Science in the College of Liberal Arts and through money from student-activity fees.


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With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.