On a campus with students hailing from 45 states and 39 countries, many living several time zones from home, clubs are one of the important ways Exonians find community and connection. The Academy has 190 student clubs, says Kelly McGahie, Exeter’s assistant director of student activities.

Joining a club is “a way for students to explore their passions, develop new passions and new curiosities,” McGahie says. “It’s also a way for them to maintain and develop friendships and meet new people that they might not have met before.”

Among student clubs, the Mock Trial Association stands out as one of the strongest and most active. Mock trialers at Exeter range from experienced debaters and aspiring lawyers to self-described “theater kids,” all seeking to sharpen their public speaking skills and legal acumen in a competitive, intellectually stimulating and enjoyable team environment. Each year, nearly 100 students audition for the club. About 30 are selected, then separated into A, B and C teams and assigned attorney or witness roles.

Other perennially popular clubs like the Daniel Webster Debate Society and Model United Nations emphasize similar skills — public speaking, logical reasoning and persuasion — and tend to attract some of the same students. But the clubs have important differences.

In parliamentary debate, the style practiced by debaters at Exeter, students face off against each other in teams of two to argue opposing sides of a given proposition (affirmative and negative). Mock trial simulates a legal proceeding, with students performing as attorneys and witnesses in front of a panel of judges. To succeed, lawyers and witnesses alike must combine superior preparation, confident public speaking and legal acumen with flexibility and improvisational skills, not to mention a considerable flair for the dramatic.

“Debate’s a very solitary activity — you’re speaking, and then you’re done,” says Lee, who is a co-head of the Mock Trial Association as well as a co-president of the debate team. “Whereas mock trial is a very collective activity. It calls upon everyone to be capable of contributing through independent work, but also be open to suggestions.”

In Model UN, a simulation of the United Nations, students act as delegates from different countries, placing even more emphasis on collaboration. “You have to interact with your competitors; you have to build relationships,” says Ethan Benenson ’26, a co-head of both Exeter’s Model UN and Mock Trial Association. “The best person at Model UN is the one who can work with everyone and put themselves out there and talk a lot without making other people hate them. In mock trial, you’re performing for the judge, and it’s all about total domination of the other team. But what’s common in both is that you need a lot of charisma and you need a lot of swagger.”

Mock trial has a strong presence on Exeter’s campus but a relatively short history — especially when compared with debate, which traces its roots to the founding of the Golden Branch Society in 1818. Before the renovation of Phillips Hall in 2012, generations of Exeter debaters met in a dedicated room on the building’s fifth floor, which was outfitted with a wooden stage, a large throne-like judge’s chair and wall-to-wall bookshelves. The renovation replaced that room with three classrooms.

Although mock trials most likely took place on campus earlier, as part of the Golden Branch Society’s activities, the first official interscholastic competition was held in 2008. According to an article published in The Exonian that spring, Exeter’s team defeated a more experienced Andover squad by one point. That initial success led to the growth of a dedicated mock trial club and a consistent record of achievement. Exeter teams have won six of the last eight state titles and have finished as high as ninth in the national championship.

This year, Exeter achieved another milestone, capturing first place at the Yale Mock Trial Bulldog Invitational, which brings together some of the nation’s best high school teams each year.

“Exeter mock trial is just so storied,” says Lee, citing the inspiration of older Exonians who inspired her to try out for the club when she was a prep. “It’s amazing to see just how quickly the club has grown and come together.”

All of Exeter’s clubs are student-led, but faculty advisers play an important role. Lori Novell, a disbursement manager in the Finance Department, has been the adviser to the Mock Trial Association since 2016.

Before coming to Exeter, Novell developed an interest in the legal system while working as an advocate for A Safe Place, a nonprofit organization serving victims of domestic and sexual violence. Over the years, she has appreciated watching Exeter students grow in confidence and public speaking ability through their participation in mock trials.

“It’s great discipline because they spend so many hours doing this,” Novell says. “I’d like to see it become a credited class because of the amount of time they have to take to prepare for competition.” 

She says Exeter Mock Trial teams are experienced at competing against each other — and supporting each other even when the result doesn’t go their way. “It’s a very cohesive team,” she says. “Even though we have three teams, one of the things I really stress to these kids is: We are one team.”

Novell’s office is lined with trophies from past mock trial competitions, and she enjoys keeping in touch with some of the many graduates who have gone on to compete in college. Anderson Lynch ’23, a member of the Exeter squad that finished ninth at nationals his senior year, now competes for the University of Chicago, where his mock trial team is coached by another Exeter alumnus, Sam Farnsworth ’20.

Lynch says that mock trial “really changed the way I’ve been able to look at problems, see two sides to a story, and craft an argument that is persuasive but embraces aspects of the other side.” He adds: “I think it really went hand in hand with Harkness, in the sense that it taught you … how to listen to others and understand what they’re saying. That’s a very crucial aspect that separates great mock trialers from good mock trialers.”

Being part of the club at Exeter also had a more practical effect on Lynch. “I went into Exeter not knowing exactly what I wanted to do, and I came out of Exeter really wanting to be a lawyer,” he says. “That was almost entirely because of mock trial.”

It’s Sunday afternoon, the day before finals begin. The entire A Team — nine students, including five attorneys and four witnesses — is practicing for the last time before Thanksgiving break. The students gather in the small classroom adjoining the Library Commons area in the Class of 1945 Library. The day is chilly, and everyone is wearing sweatpants and sweatshirts, a far cry from the pantsuits, blazers and ties in which they will compete.

Despite the cozy vibe, the mood is high as they toss ideas back and forth, mulling over the exact wording of the opening statement one of the lawyers will deliver. It’s like a turbocharged Harkness discussion, with far more interruptions and bursts of laughter.

Tamar Moskovich ’26, a club co-head and witness leader for the team, stands at the whiteboard. “A badge is not a pass to __,” she writes, drawing a line representing the unfinished sentence.

“A badge is not a pass to ignore the facts!” someone cries out.

“I think there’s too many rhymes in there,” Cheng says. On a similar note, they decide the words “regret” and “threat” don’t work together.

“He wore the badge, and ignored the facts,” someone suggests.

The raucous back-and-forth continues until they decide that “he betrayed the badge” is the right wording and move on. Over the next hour, Theo Stien ’28 cross-examines an eyewitness, Bailey Wilson (played by Miller), and conducts a direct and cross-examination of a seasoned police officer and expert witness, played by Alex Eggers ’28.

The lawyers and witnesses have prepared their own questions and responses, and the group follows along in a shared document, giving both oral and written feedback. Moskovich watches each witness closely, sometimes gesturing to make sure they look up at the other team members rather than down at their material. “Louder, more spark,” she advises.

As practice wraps up, a few team members promise to send drafts of their material so others can review it over the break. Most of them are heading to Elm Street Dining Hall to eat dinner and continue discussing their case.

Before leaving, Moskovich adds a last piece of advice for Eggers, the expert witness. “When you’re picking and choosing what to really respond to, those are the moments that we’re going to remember,” she says. “You can’t fight everything. What’s really the important fact?”