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Mediation Team Defends International Championship Ranking

The College mediation team took first place in the 22nd Annual International Intercollegiate Mediation Championship Tournament, defending its 2020 championship title. The team captured top awards in two of the four categories of competition.

College juniors Luke Nutwell and Grace Pecheck placed first for individual advocacy, while Pecheck scored first for individual mediation.

Principia co-hosted the event online with Maharishi International University November 11–13, 2021. The second year of online dispute resolution championships brought together 26 teams from around the world.

As winners of both international intercollegiate online championship tournaments, “Principia is at the cutting edge of developing online-dispute-resolution techniques,” says Principia mediation coach Jeff Steele.   

To cap it off, seniors Olivia Burbee, Delaney Gatine, and Juliet Beck captured the coveted H. Case Ellis Spirit of Mediation Award for advocacy. This prestigious award goes to the institution that demonstrates the highest qualities of peacemaking and dispute resolution.

Mediation Team Places Second Among Top Law Schools

At the start of the mediation competition season, the team made a strong showing at the annual Brenau University Invitational Mediation Tournament, October 8–9, 2021, in Gainesville, Georgia.

Over the course of the tournament, each team member won an individual Top 10 trophy, bringing Principia into a tight race for the finish with Grace College (Indiana) and the University of Central Florida, which took top honors. Principia placed second with a team of mostly first-time competitors, proving once again that the College team can triumph among the major players.

Our “love for the mediation process was manifested that weekend, and our scoring reflected that—along with our training and effort,” says team co-captain Olivia Burbee.

Burbee led the way to a second-place Team Mediation trophy and a fourth-place Team Advocacy trophy. Veteran seniors Beck and Grace St. George mentored newcomers Erin Demaree (a senior), Nutwell, and freshmen Avery Smith and Louisa Longshore. Longshore earned the nickname “Honeybadger” for coming on so strong and “in character” that “the opposition thought she was an experienced veteran rather than a first-time player,” Coach Steele says.

The team’s focus and authenticity convinced some judges Principia’s undergraduates were on law-school teams. In fact, the College edged out Yeshiva University's Cardozo School of Law and William & Mary Law School in the final round.

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