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By Benjamin Engen 
CU Mock Trial has a long and proud history. Unfortunately, much of what was once known about this history has been lost over the years. What we do know is this: CU Mock Trial was initially founded sometime in the mid-1990s as near as we can tell. The program suffered massive setbacks and was eventually disbanded and completely forgotten about for what appears to be seven years. In 2003, Fort Collins native Reed Morgan (now Harvard Law Alum) attempted to found a mock trial team at CU and discovered that CU was already registered with the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA). Thus, CU Mock Trial was reborn (with much more success... eventually). 
The initial year was challenging, as no one on the team had ever participated in mock trial before. The first tournament in Texas resulted in most of the team’s members being lost, and CU was forced to forfeit most of the tournament. The return to Colorado resulted in further losses as one of the cars transporting the team was lost for several days after making a wrong turn towards Kansas City without realizing it. The second tournament that CU Mock Trial attended that year was cut short by a near fatal car wreck that totaled several team vehicles. From there, things improved rapidly. The next year, 2004, saw a surge in membership, including child prodigy and veteran mock trialer Benjamin Engen. The leadership was also augmented by Dan Watson and Scott Belford. CU managed to travel to and compete in four tournaments that year, and while the results were not stellar, CU managed to rank mid-pack at all of the tournaments attended. Scott Belford and Dan Watson took the reins full time when Reed Morgan graduated and made some much-needed cuts among the teams. 
These drastic moves catapulted CU to the top of not only their regional competition, but to Silver Nationals in 2005. From there, CU went on to Gold Nationals, where they were eventually defeated. This set the trend for the subsequent years of mock trial, and while the team has not since reached Gold Nationals, CU Mock Trial has sent at least one team to Silver Nationals every year since then and built up a strong reputation in the world of Collegiate Mock Trial. CU Mock Trial's reputation for excellence was augmented in 2009 when the first Colorado Classic invitational tournament was held at CU. The tournament was an instant success and promises to become an annual event which will further increase CU’s Mock Trial prestige. In summation, anyone who doesn’t join mock trial after hearing all this can [end of transmission] |
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