Note: This article appears in the Summer/Fall issue of Stetson University Magazine.

In mid-April, Stetson’s undergraduate Mock Trial team traveled to Washington, D.C., to compete in the 41st annual American Mock Trial Association National Championship Tournament. The team didn’t win the title, but it went toe-to-toe against an elite field — more than 50 top teams — that included The Ohio State University, Harvard University, Princeton University, the University of Michigan, Stanford University, Duke University and Dartmouth College, among others.

The event was the final round of the national tournament structure, with Stetson advancing from intense regional competitions. Through it all, the Stetson team delivered unprecedented success — becoming the university’s first team to earn a direct bid to the Nationals. (In 2025, Stetson received an indirect bid.) And, for the second consecutive year, Stetson was the only school from Florida to advance to the Nationals.

In only four years, the program has ascended from unranked to among the best out of more than 700 teams from across America.

Following the Mock Trial Nationals, Pre-Law Director Joshua Rust, PhD, professor of Philosophy, commented: “They are, without question, the strongest undergraduate team in Florida and among the most competitive in the country. This success reflects not only the many hours of preparation our students dedicate each week, but also the support they receive from this community.”

Rust also pointed to the university’s Hatter Ready approach of immersive learning outside the classroom. He believes the Mock Trial teams, encompassing approximately 20 students, exemplify such innovative, experiential education. “This is the essence of it,” he said. “Mock Trial and our many other competition teams repre­sent the kind of future for the university that the faculty wanted to create when they built the Hatter Ready program.”

Team members were first-year student Kennedy Wimes; sophomores Daishia Philpot, Aiden Ramsey, Casey Vallecorsa and Jiya Amin; juniors Temi Adediji, Ryan Hansen and Riley Koster. The coach was Andrew Langenbach, staff attorney with Volusia County Public Schools and a former assistant Florida state attorney.

Langenbach describes a telling conver­sation with another team’s coach. Walking to his car at a regional competi­tion, Langenbach was asked, “Are you Stetson’s coach?” His answer of, yes, drew this response: “Oh man, that’s who we want to be.”

Langenbach repeats Rust’s emphasis on readiness, noting, “What I tell the students at the beginning of the year is, ‘I want you to win competitions, obviously. That’s why you’re here. But my goal is for you to be good attorneys when you get out of law school. My goal is that you’ll leave here ready to step into a courtroom — you’ll just need to get through law school.’”

Also notably, Stetson’s Moot Court teams have exhibited similar strength at events sponsored by the American Moot Court Association, the largest intercolle­giate moot court organization nationwide.

There’s more.

Adediji, team captain and Mock Trial president, earned All-American honors for a second time. A Political Science and English major with a minor in Africana Studies, he is a J. Ollie Edmunds Distinguished Scholar. He amassed a total of 29 “ranks” — the highest in the nation. Mock trial “ranks” are numerical scores awarded by judges to individuals for their performance in a round. High ranks indicate superior performance.

In fact, Adediji — actually Temiloluwa Adediji — represents Stetson’s pre-law rise to prominence in another way. Pre-law hasn’t merely excelled in competitions; it also has broadened by attracting more students to new and growing organizations that offer key resources, professional networking and hands-on legal experience.

Last fall, an undergraduate chapter of National Black Law Students Association was established, with an assist by Adediji, who partnered with Collin Hughley ’27, a Political Science major, and Tori Watson ’26, an English and Sociology major with a minor in Business Law.

Early in his time on campus, Adediji saw a notice for team tryouts and made the team. There, he was coached by Tejal Ram ’23, a student now at Stetson Law who was a “phenomenal mentor and guide for me and taught me all about the intricacies of trial advocacy, about the law,” Adediji recalls.

The lessons took hold. “I went to my first competition and after competing, I kind of fell in love with the activity,” Adediji says.

A summer internship with attorney Michael Davis ’08, a Stetson trustee, sealed that direction. “It completely transformed my understanding of the law, advocacy, and what it means to be a lawyer,” Adediji adds. “He still is a mentor to me, one of my closest advisers and mentors.”

In turn, Adediji, Hughley and Watson worked diligently to get Stetson’s National Black Law Students Association chapter off the ground. There were three primary goals: increase the representa­tion of African American and minority pre-law students at Stetson; provide opportunities to thrive at Stetson and through off-campus internships and opportunities; and cultivate a tight-knit community that builds leaders. At present, the legal profession consists of about 5% African American attorneys.

Hughley sees the pre-law momentum building.

“I think the pre-law department is really working to create a pipeline of actually getting students to law school, and not just law school but to good or great law schools. It’s been kind of a trajectory shift,” he comments.

Adds Watson, who attended a mock trial camp on campus while in high school: “I think the community is richer now. I think that it’s bridging now, and instead of everything being so separated in the pre-law community, it’s now, ‘How can we all work together toward a common goal while maintaining our individuality.’”

Phi Alpha Delta is the pre-law frater­nity chapter, connecting DeLand campus students with students attending Stetson’s College of Law in Gulfport, offering learning panels and professional insight, providing partnerships for discounted test prep and workshops, and guiding members on pathways to suc­cess. Audrey Best, president of Phi Alpha Delta, worked with other pre-law organi­zations to revive the Stetson Law School Fair and helped organize the university’s Pre-Law Gala in April.

Best, who graduated in May with a Psychology degree, says she witnessed four years on campus of strengthening connec­tions with law schools, expanding Law School Admission Test (LSAT) preparation resources, and identifying and filling gaps in student support — efforts that have been “super successful.” This spring, she esti­mated that 300 to 400 students had listed themselves as pursuing pre-law study, but the number could be substantially higher. “A lot of students won’t [indicate] that they are ‘pre-law,’ but then they come to the events and their eyes have kind of opened.”

During the spring semester, the Latinx Law Student Association formed a chapter on campus to promote diversity, inclusion and representation in the legal field.

“Our pre-law community should be as diverse as the people and communities the law serves,” Rust says. “That is why we welcome students from across the univer­sity — Philosophy, English, Business, Marketing, the sciences and beyond — because each discipline brings a perspective that can deepen our understanding of law and justice.”

In addition, there’s a generally growing pre-law energy — more momentum — across the campus. Along with the existing Business Law minor, a new Law, Society and Advocacy minor is being introduced for the Fall 2026 semester. It explores the question of the peculiar nature of our modern conception of law, as articulated by the American and French revolutionaries. Historical, philosophical and social per­spectives will be examined, with an empha­sis on analytical reasoning, critical thinking and communication. Those skills are particularly valued by law schools and legal employers.

A Pre-Law Advisory Committee consists of faculty and staff who provide personal­ized guidance for students aspiring to attend law school. The committee advises on course selection, internship placements, LSAT preparation and the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) application process.

Also, for first-year students, the univer­sity now offers the LAW READY Living and Learning Community in Lynn Hall. Beginning this fall semester, the intent is to have a cohort of pre-law students live together, take classes together and receive targeted mentorship from day one.

Further, Stetson hosts a model U.S. Senate each March, with the 54th annual Patrick L. Smith Model United States Senate being held this year. (Patrick L. Smith ’03 was a student participant and now is a Florida attorney with his own offices.) The annual three-day event reproduces the actual proce­dures and activities of the U.S. Senate, where students are assigned a senator in one of five legislative committees. Each committee is responsible for researching and introducing a variety of bills during lively sessions. Past model Senate pro­grams have included visits from numer­ous U.S. senators. Additional law-ready programs include Model U.N. and Political Science’s Tallahassee semester.

In essence, Stetson is presenting its own definition of “lawyering up” — and the Stetson College of Law is helping to state its case.

For example, Stetson undergraduates interested in a legal career are invited to join the Fast-Track 3+3 Program to Stetson Law, an accelerated pathway that allows students to earn both a bachelor’s degree and a law degree in six years, one year less than the traditional seven-year track. Also, there’s a 4+3 program, which guarantees admission to Stetson Law if certain condi­tions are satisfied. Of course, Stetson Law is highly ranked — No. 1 in both trial advocacy and legal writing.

All of the advances serve as evidence that Stetson’s “Law Ready” is both reso­nate and real.

Adediji offers this closing assessment: “I think in the three years that I’ve been here, our pre-law program has taken a significant leap. Dr. Rust likes to use the term ‘renaissance,’ and I think that’s absolutely correct. Just the amount of growth that this program has experi­enced, the amount of passion that its students have poured into it, I believe that we’re starting to reap the benefits.”