Janet Zahorsky
“Wooster is a liberal arts education.” This is a phrase that I have heard and repeated almost as many times as I’ve politely corrected my relatives’ pronunciation of
WOO-ster. I used to think that a liberal arts education meant fulfilling a certain number of Q, H and R requirements while taking classes where the professor knew my name. I knew that a liberal arts education meant more, but could never find the words to explain what. I am a few months away from graduation, and I just realized how exactly to explain why “liberal arts education” is more than a hollow phrase.
On Jan. 18 and 19, I, along with 11 other students, proudly represented Wooster at the American Collegiate Moot Court Association National Championship held at Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law at Arizona State University. In one round, one judge, a professor at a well-known law school, praised not only our efforts but the efficacy of Moot Court as an exercise in critical thought. He explained, “This is one of the most useful exercises that anyone can participate in. To take a case where you have to formulate an argument for both sides of an issue and give those in a convincing manner — even if you don’t agree with them — that teaches you something you can’t learn anywhere else.” For the most part, he is right.
Moot Court is a very specific exercise that teaches the art of argumentation. It consists of one mock Supreme Court case that presents two current issues in law and society. We competitors are given about 20 actual Supreme Court cases from which we must craft arguments both for and against particular issues. For example, our cases challenged the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act and same-sex marriage before either issue reached the Supreme Court. As undergraduate students, we have the opportunity to make arguments that real attorneys are arguing before the real Supreme Court. We present arguments both for and against particular issues with logic and clarity. We are asked to form arguments based on critical analysis, rather than personal belief and emotion. We are asked to do all of this while articulating our thoughts in a respectful, persuasive manner. Moot Court may not be the only place where I have learned these things, but it does take all of the great skills gained from a liberal arts education and apply them in the same exercise.
To me, Moot Court epitomizes what a liberal arts education means. It means engaging challenging material. It means professors who care and facilitate our desire to learn. It means setting aside our own preconceptions in order to analyze the merits of an argument. It means basing an argument in logic, rather than an appeal to emotion. It means respecting the counter-argument. It means that making poor arguments is a necessary precursor to the articulation of great arguments. It means learning how to work with different personalities and be respectful at all times. It means that disagreement and frustration is resolved by a simple “I understand where you are coming from, but I have a different interpretation.” It means spending hours upon hours with classmates or teammates. It means that those individuals — whether they remain acquaintances or become the closest of friends — help you grow and learn as an individual.
It means liberal arts.