The new club that promises to teach critical thinking
By: Oliver Pulcher, Art & Life Editor
On Sept. 10, the Student Governance Council for Saint Louis Community College-Meramec voted to approve two new student clubs for the Meramec campus. These two new clubs are Mock Trial and Library Club.
Mock Trial is an imitation trial wherein students take on the various roles needed to fulfill the requirements for that trial. Students may form prosecution or defense teams or act as judges, jury members or witnesses. Participating students receive case files and prepare to argue the case as real lawyers would. There is then a trial held where the students compete against each other.
“There were multiple reasons I started Mock Trial. The primary one was that I really liked the club in high school and I had a dream of becoming a lawyer. That sort of changed, but I know that the skills that come up in this club will be useful in whatever career I choose. I like helping people, and one of my main goals is to help teach other students learn how to be more persuasive through Mock Trial,” said Barak Adler, the club’s president.
Adler said he believes that Mock Trial is a strong tool when it comes to building persuasion skills. He argues that anyone who has taken a communications class has given a speech, however Mock Trial requires more mental energy and is a better exercise in persuasion as students have to keep many issues and strategies straight in their minds. The other area where Mock Trial differs from speeches is that students never know what may happen in a courtroom at any given time, and so they have to learn adaptability to be successful in mock trial competitions.
“Anyone who would like to practice being more assertive, speaking in front of an audience, or being more able to persuade other people would benefit from the club,” said Adler.
Mock Trial currently has no set meeting times, though the club president plans to set them up within the next few weeks. Adler plans to use the membership within Meramec’s club to either build a league within Meramec for competitions, or to possibly join an external mock trial league.
However, he said the primary goal of Mock Trial is to educate students on the processes and rules of partaking in Mock Trial. Further goals of the club will be discussed at the first meeting of this semester.
