The Dartmouth Mock Trial team took first place in the annual Quaker Classic Invitational Tournament at the University of Pennsylvania in late October, beating out 12 other schools in the competition.
Team Pegasus of the student-run group, captained by Kavya Nivarthy ’25 and Margaret Bone ’24, took top honors, while the group’s team Orion, captained by Uma Misha ’26 and Bea Burack ’25, earned honorable mention.
“This was Dartmouth’s best performance at the invitational tournament yet, and the captains are particularly proud of how much of an impact first-year competitors made in their first college competition,” says Nivarthy, who is also Dartmouth Mock Trial program co-captain with Misha.
In April, the team earned a spot in the Open Round Championship Series held at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, where they finished third overall. It was the first time the team has earned a bid to the National Championship Tournament since 2008.
Participants in mock trial clubs simulate real courtroom proceedings by taking on the roles of lawyers, witnesses, and court personnel, allowing them to practice legal procedures and argumentation skills in a hypothetical case.
Nivarthy attributes the team’s success to the commitment of all the members to rigorous practice while cultivating a supportive and fun culture.
“In the past year, we’ve really seen that shared commitment to these goals and that culture of devoting a lot of time to this activity. Taking a lot of feedback has been a big part of it, and just looking to compete at a higher level,” Nivarthy says.
Alumni often come back to support the team, she says, acting as judges during practice, and showing up at competitions to cheer them on.
Government professor Herschel Nachlis, associate director and senior policy fellow at the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and Mock Trial team adviser, praised the team members’ level of commitment.
“You can find our students practicing late at night around the Rockefeller Center, or driving themselves down I-95 in 12-seater vans to tournaments at Penn and elsewhere,” Nachlis says. “My sense of these students is that in addition to creating a successful space, they’ve also retained the group’s fun and low-key character, including by continuing to welcome new members with no prior mock trial experience.”
Also at the Quaker Classic tournament, team members Colin Jung ’28 and Nivarthy earned outstanding attorney awards.
The Dartmouth Mock Trial competitors included Nivarthy, Burack, Bone, Anna Chabica ’25, Misha, Carter Anderson ’26, Carlo Guerrini-Maraldi ’26, Rachel Roncka ’26, Julia Allos ’27, Benjamin Spears ’27, Marina Cascini ’27, Margaret Edmonds ’27, Sofia Piraino ’27, Matthew Monroe ’27, Amol Bhingarde ’28, Jenna Lodge ’28, Phoebe Kim ’28, Jung, Noah Canada ’28, and Atticus Prinn ’28.
Team members who did not travel to Pennsylvania are Neha Bhardwaj ’26, Gideon Gruel ’26, Dylan Griffith ’25, Alex Joel ’25, Armita Mirkarimi ’25, and Frankie Paulson ’26.
