Ranked last year as one of the top four undergraduate teams in the world, the Georgia Southern Mock Mediation Club competed in their first competition of this semester last weekend.

At the two-day Regional Mediation Tournament hosted by Brenau University from the Oct.8-9, the club was able to bring home 8 more wins across the board in advocacy and mediation.

The team has grown exponentially this year and was able to take two brand new teams to compete in this regional competition.

Jessica Shanken, president and senior international studies major, said “Being in Mock Mediation since it first began two years ago has made it really interesting to see so many new students try something new and step outside of their comfort zones and do so well while supporting each other. So I’m just really looking forward to seeing how well we do at the rest of the competitions this semester and how we are going to bring that back to the Georgia Southern community.”

(TEXTBOX OF AWARDS)

The awards included:

• 4 of the top 20 advocates

• 2 of the top 10 individual mediators

• 1 of the top 6 teams in the advocate/client team category

• 1 of the top 6 teams in the mediation team category

After 2 years of hard work, the mock mediation team’s dedication has earned them over 50 awards including last spring’s big win of ‘Top Advocacy Team in the World’ at the International Law School Mediation Tournament, where they were the only undergraduate team in the history of the competition that qualified to compete at finals and beat out graduate students from law schools around the world.

Gisele Devot, vice-president and senior communications management major said, “Despite the growing number in accolades, Mock Mediation members can comfortably tell you, it’s more than just the material possession of awards but rather the experience they have gained through competing. Students were able to learn first-hand the value of communication, professionalism, and collaboration. This competition acted as a training tool for new members and each member left competition gaining something; not necessarily awards or trophies, but a learning experience.”

(photos by Dylan John)