“Communications week began last year as a way to celebrate the School of Communications’ faculty and students,” said senior Alexandra Zubak, the honor society’s president. “This year in partnering with various organizations within the communications school we are aiming to involve a larger student base and highlight the amazing opportunities the school offers, as well as the incredible work done by students beyond the academic setting.”

Communications Week kicks off with a two-day “Thank You” campaign for students to show their appreciation for the school’s faculty and staff. The event will be held throughout the day upstairs in the McEwen School of Communications on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.

The week’s events will continue with a special advertising industry discussion on Monday. The talk, “An Inside Look at Advertising,” features Hal Vincent, lecturer in communications, and School of Communications students who have completed advertising industry internships. Vincent and the students will share insights on working in and getting into the advertising industry. Elon’s chapter of the American Advertising Federation sponsors this discussion.

On Tuesday, School of Communications students presenting at the university’s Student Undergraduate Research Forum will be highlighted. Elondocs, Elon’s documentary film organization, will also be hosting their Spring Showcase screening of their production work on Tuesday, April 29 at 7 p.m. in McEwen 011.

On Wednesday, May 1 Elon’s student television organization ESTV will have a live filming of their “Win Stuff” game show. Please arrive by 5:30 p.m. for the filming. All students are invited to attend to participate and learn more about the show and ESTV programming.

The week wraps up with an ice cream social hosted by ESTV. The event takes place on Friday May 2, at 6 p.m. in McEwen 011, and features alumni speakers from the School of Communications.

The Elon chapter of Lambda Pi Eta has more than 75 members and was founded in 1998. The goals of Lambda Pi Eta are to recognize, foster and reward outstanding scholastic achievement within the School of Communications. The National Communications Association at their national conference honored Elon’s chapter of Lambda Pi Eta with the National Chapter of the Year award this past Fall. Elon’s chapter adviser is Dr. Frances Ward-Johnson, associate professor and associate department chair, and recipient of the National Communication Association’s Advisor of the Year Award. There are more than 400 active Lambda Pi Eta chapters across the country and worldwide.
 
For more information on Communications Week, contact Alex Zubak at azubak@elon.edu

In Greenville, nine Elon students will compete in four rounds of trial simulations against teams from other institutions such as Duke University, Harvard University, Georgetown University, Emory University, and Washington and Lee University. The top six teams will advance to AMTA’s National Championship Tournament in mid April.

Two Elon teams competed at the Chapel Hill AMTA regional tournament and brought home several team and individual awards. Aside from having the third best team competition record at the tournament, senior Julia Schast and sophomore John Gavin earned outstanding attorney awards, while senior Baron Smith earned an award for outstanding witness.

The team attending the March 21-23 tournament in Greenville is comprised of Elon students from a variety of undergraduate majors and class standings: seniors Julia Schast, Claire Long, Baron Smith and Tyler Nikola; juniors Rebecca Mutty and Jennifer McRobert; sophomores David Comerford and John Gavin; and first-year Alaina Schukraft make up the team competing this weekend.

Elon competed in five invitational tournaments in the fall, including the Carolina Classic held on Elon’s campus, in preparation for a spring schedule that determined which universities would be invited to the opening round tournament.

Each February, more than 600 mock trials teams compete in 24 regional tournaments around the country, with seven teams moving on from each regional to one of eight opening round championships in March. From each opening round championship, six teams will move on to compete in the AMTA National Championship Tournament.

From the more than 600 registered AMTA teams, only 48 reach the National Championship Tournament.

The Elon team is coached by Michael Koeltzow L’13 and Kristen DelForge, a former Elon mock trial member and current third-year student at Elon Law. 

Senior Baron Smith also took home an individual outstanding witness award from the tournament. The UCLAssic was the last in a series of four tournaments that Elon’s mock trial teams competed in over the course of the fall semester.

At UCLA, six Elon students competed in four rounds of trial simulations. To earn the eighth-place finish, Elon won in competitive rounds against teams from Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley.

Elon’s successes at UCLA’s tournament were reflective of the Mock Trial team’s performance all season. At Elon’s own Carolina Classic Invitational in October, Elon placed in the top six teams, besting teams from schools such as Duke University. Elon also had a member receive an outstanding witness award at the Carolina Classic. Elon’s sucesss continued at Penn State’s Happy Valley Mock Trial Invitational, coming away with a third place overall finish, winning rounds against Penn State, American University and Rutgers University. Elon also competed at Columbia University’s Big Apple Invitational Tournament in New York City this fall. At Columbia, junior David Comerford won an Outstanding Attorney award and Elon had four competitive rounds against teams from Tufts, Northwood, Columbia and Georgetown Universities.

The final tournament Elon competed at during the fall was Duke University’s Tobacco Road Invitational. Elon narrowly missed a top finish overall after a highly competitive final round against Northwood University. However, at the tournament Elon still won in rounds against teams from the University of Pennsylvania and Howard University. Elon also took home an individual outstanding witness award from Duke’s invitational.  

Elon’s two mock trial teams are currently preparing for a regional tournament hosted by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in February. This tournament will determine which teams move on to compete at the national level. Elon has advanced to the national level of mock trial competition in each of the past three years.

Each February, more than 600 mock trials teams compete in 24 regional tournaments around the country, with seven teams moving on from each regional to one of eight opening round championships in March. From each opening round championship, six teams will move on to compete in the AMTA National Championship Tournament.

From the more than 600 registered AMTA teams, only 48 reach the National Championship Tournament.

The Elon team is coached by Michael Koeltzow, L’10, and Kristen DelForge, a former Elon mock trial member and current 3L at Elon Law. 

Associate Dean Don Grady will give an overview of the School of Communications, Director of Internships Nagatha Tonkins will talk about the internships and career services available to Communications students, and other professors will give an overview of each major and discuss how to get involved with student media organizations. A question-and-answer session will be held with professors and students. Lambda Pi Eta members will be available to mentor students by their major interests.

For more information on the event, contact Alex Zuback at azuback@elon.edu.

 Elon’s team advances to this stage after placing in the top seven teams at the Orlando, FL regional tournament on February 16-17. This competition marks the third year in a row that Elon has advanced to the championship series.

In Greenville, eight Elon students will compete in four rounds of trial simulations against other institutions, including: Duke University, Dartmouth College, Emory University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The top six teams from the Opening Round Championship will advance to AMTA’s National Championship Tournament in mid April.

Two Elon teams competed at the Orlando AMTA regional in February, bringing home many accolades. Elon earned top individual awards in addition to a championship series bid for one team, and a strong showing by the other. Senior Andrew Stevenson won the top Outstanding Attorney award – the only competitor to do so with a perfect score of 20 ranks. Junior Baron Smith also took home the top Outstanding Witness award, the only competitor to win the award with 20 ranks as well. Sophomore Adrienne Greenberg also won an Outstanding Attorney award with a score of 18 ranks.

The team attending the March 15-17 tournament in Greenville is comprised of: Seniors Andrew Stevenson, Saige Subick, Amanda Stearns, and Noah McCarn; Juniors Baron Smith and Tyler Nikola; Sophomore Jenny McRobert; and First-year David Comerford.

Elon competed in five invitational tournaments in the fall, including the Carolina Classic held on Elon’s campus, in preparation for a spring schedule that determined which universities would be invited to the opening round tournament.

Each February, more than 600 mock trials teams compete in 24 regional tournaments around the country, with seven teams moving on from each regional to one of eight opening round championships in March. From each opening round championship, six teams will move on to compete in the AMTA National Championship Tournament.

From the more than 600 registered AMTA teams, only 48 reach the National Championship Tournament.

The Elon team is coached by William Warihay ’07, L’10, Michael Koeltzow, a 3L student at Elon Law, and Kristen DelForge, a former Elon mock trial member and current 2L at Elon Law.

For more information on Elon Mock Trial, please visit the link on the upper right side of this page.