Category: Features

The Blue and White Team are pictured here after the closing ceremonies of the LaSalle University Invitational.

By Shailee Desai ’21

On January 21, students of the Wyoming Seminary Mock Trial team returned to Sem after competing in their second preseason competition of the year.

After weeks of preparation, the team traveled to LaSalle University’s Blue and Gold Invitational and UPenn’s Ben Franklin Invitational. It was the first time Sem Mock Trial competed with three teams at LaSalle and two at UPenn.

At LaSalle’s invitational, Sem Mock Trial’s Blue Team placed first, with a perfect record of 8-0, the White Team B team placed 4th, with a record of 7-1, and the White Team C held a winning record of 5-3. At UPenn’s Iinvitational, the Blue Team finished in first place, with a record of 8-0 (leaving them with a 16-0 record for the preseason), and the White Team B had a winning record of 5-3. This was the first time that Sem Mock Trial won two preseason tournaments in the same year. Additionally, Molly Leahy won two Top Witness awards, and Meghna Melkote received a Top Attorney award.

After two weekends of winning, the team remains dedicated, considering the next stop is advancing to the state competition. “Nothing has changed,” said Phil Ouellette. “We still have to practice consistently and work hard. Our material and performance can always be better and will continue to get better.” Morgan Price credits this dedication for their performance over the weekend. She says, “The feeling when all that hard work pays off is one you can’t describe. I’m just so proud of everyone and can’t wait for the next step in our journey.”

By Ms. Miller’s Journalism Class 

Jeanne Arrigo, who plays Judge Barnes, addresses the crowd to begin the play “Defamation.” (Photo courtesy of Michelle Harris ‘17)

On Monday October 17th, the Wyoming Seminary community spent a day together to discuss sensitive social topics after viewing the nationally touring play, “Defamation.” “Defamation” is a courtroom drama where a black woman sues a Jewish man for defamation. The play included six actors and a jury of 500 audience members. At the end, the audience makes the ultimate decision of who is right, who is wrong, and why.

A group of 18 students and two faculty members saw the play last year at Malvern Prep High School in Philadelphia, and were asking to bring not only the play to Sem, but to bring the conversation with it. The goal of the play is to question topics that might otherwise be pushed to the side or too difficult to talk about in everyday classroom conversation.

When asked what the point of bringing Defamation to Sem was, Defamation Stage Manager, Anders Goodwin explained, “To get the civil discourse of race, class, gender, religion, [and] all of the things that come up in the play, to people who don’t have much exposure to it. [And to people who] have thoughts about it but haven’t had the chance to express their thoughts. These are conversations that we have to have in society but it’s hard to get these conversations started in a place that doesn’t feel threatening.”  

Sem Students watching a video about race in college admissions. (Photo courtesy of Parshwa Sheth ‘17)

A main goal of Monday was to get students to listen to each other and think about what they are saying, before they say it. “Listening to your peers and teachers, because you start to realize that everyone has their own views on the play. We’ve all seen the same thing but we all come out with slightly different perceptions on it.” Goodwin explains.

Following the play students were sent to afternoon sessions; two per student based on their choice. Many controversial topics such as race, religion, gender, class and the law were covered in the fifty-five minute sessions. Each session was hosted by faculty and special guests with relatively small group sizes of around twenty students.

This was a unique experience because these subjects are often not approached in a school environment. Sessions were varied, some being more informational and material based, while others were more discussion based. But the sessions not only informed students about what was going on in their world today but also what they will be facing in the coming years. Topics included safe spaces and free speech on college campuses, treatment of people with different sexual orientations, along with other concepts.

Some sessions ended with students being more informed, while others left students arguing with one another over their own beliefs.

Sem Students engaged in a discussion about Racial Segregation. (Photo Courtesy of Parshwa Sheth ‘17)