About Campus

For the third time in five years, Patrick Henry College has won the American Collegiate Moot Court Association (ACMA) National Championship. Having sent a maximum-allowed roster of eight qualifying teams to Orange, California, the college earned first-, second-, and third-place team trophies in a 64-team, 128-competitor field from across the country.

PHC/David Finley PHC’s 1st and 2nd place moot court teams pose with ACMA National Championship tournament judges.

... “MOST IMPRESSIVE IS THAT, OF THE 16 PHC STUDENTS COMPETING, ONLY TWO WERE SENIORS.” ...

Winning the championship, held at Chapman Law School on January 17, 2009, were PHC juniors Rachel Heflin and Aidan Grano, who argued successfully for the petitioner in a mock free-speech case involving disciplinary due process at the collegiate level. Second-place finishers were senior Joseph Alm and junior Brianna Edleblut, and third place went to juniors Robert Kelly and James Mieding. They tied for third place with Allie Hallmark and Emily Owenby of the University of North Texas. In fifth place were senior Rachel Blum and sophomore Noah Oberlander.

“This was a truly outstanding team, one of our best,” said a very pleased Dr. Michael Farris, PHC’s chancellor and moot court coach. His teams have now won three national titles in nine years of competition. “They were incredible, and I’m not exaggerating when I say that any of the eight teams we sent could have been in the final round.”

“Most impressive,” Dr. Farris added, “is that, of the 16 PHC students competing, only two were seniors.”

Other competing teams included last year’s national champion runner-up Wooster College, as well as Holy Cross, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Drake University, California State University, and the University of Texas-Dallas.

By any measure, this stands as one of the most dominating performances by a moot court squad in PHC’s short, albeit illustrious, history. The college won back-to-back national titles in 2005 and 2006, a feat as yet unmatched in the ACMA’s nine-year history. During that period, PHC also defeated Oxford University in two consecutive competitions outside the ACMA circuit.

Dr. Frank Guliuzza, PHC’s other moot court coach, was weary yet exuberant in assessing the team’s performance. “The national championship is back where it belongs,” he said. “We had two teams in the finals competing against one another, and we came within two ballots of closing out the competition in the semifinals (with four PHC teams almost making up the entire semifinal and final rounds).”

A professor of government, Dr. Guliuzza arrived at PHC from Weber State in summer 2008, and said he was amazed at the level of skill and preparation in PHC’s legal debate program. Had rules allowed, the college could have sent 18 teams to the national competition.

“When I arrived in August, most of the teams were already ready to compete, and could have probably broken into the top rounds at nationals,” he recalled. “This team was really hungry to bring back the national trophy. I had 10 top-10 finishes at Weber State, but I’ve never won a national championship. This is just a tremendous bunch of truly gifted, humble Christian students who have prepared themselves to serve God and be quite successful in their future endeavors.”

“This season has been full of blessings and difficulties,” added Brianna Edelblut, who captured second place with teammate Joseph Alm. “At the end of the day, what I hope the other teams will see is not only our success, not only the discouragements that we sometimes face, but also a team and school that are able to take everything they have been given and turn it around and bless the Lord’s name.”

Summarizing the weekend’s events, Dr. Farris recalled a final judges panel that ranked among the most distinguished he has seen: a federal district judge, two California court of appeals judges, and two law school deans, one of whom clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. He shared his delight at PHC’s strong presence and growing influence in the legal arena.

“Two judges at the tournament were former PHC moot court team members, both now attending Pepperdine Law School,” he said. “One was offered a very prestigious judicial opportunity while he was there. Two other PHC alumni now attending Harvard Law School were judges during our East Coast Championship. I see this and recognize how extremely blessed we are to have a program that launches kids into incredible opportunities that will enable them to serve God and change America in powerful ways. That’s what really matters."

Moot court, or legal debate, is an intensive simulation of appellate court proceedings that tests students’ abilities in a range of exacting judicial disciplines—research, brief writing, and debate—in arguing authentic court cases before a panel of judges.