CMC will host 25 teams from Southern California, Utah, and Arizona for its first annual Mock Trial Regional Tournament this weekend, beginning with opening ceremonies at 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 23 in McKenna Auditorium, and continuing with sessions on Saturday at the Rancho Cucamonga Courthouse, and at 9 a.m. on Sunday in CMC classrooms. Closing ceremonies will be held at 1 p.m. on Sunday in McKenna.
Mock trial team member Martin Gilbert '09, who will act as director for the campus venue, says the process to host the regional tournament at Claremont McKenna College took several weeks, starting with a formal application to the American Mock Trial Association, which reviewed the College's facilities and capabilities. Gilbert says growth in the mock trial program has exploded to the degree that two regional venues were needed for this year's competitions. The first was hosted last week on the University of Southern California campus, with one of three CMC teams participating.
The College's remaining two teams coached by Richard MacNaughton '66 and numbering six students on each will compete this weekend.
Gilbert says members of the CMC community are welcome to drop in and observe mock trial events this weekend, with the request that there are no disruptions to the proceedings. "It's very formal for us," Gilbert says. "We try to operate as a real courtroom would."