Lasell students set new records and emerged victorious from recent competitions held by the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA), DECA, and Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS).

The University’s mock trial team competed in a regional tournament sponsored by AMTA in February, where they tried a fictional civil case in four different rounds of competition. Captained by seniors Eva Ricci ’21 and Will Parlee ’21, the team tried their case over Zoom twice each as plaintiffs and defendants. Each mock attorney and witness had their performance scored by professional judges and attorneys, who looked for students’ strategies, mastery of facts and rules of evidence, and quick thinking. 

More than 400 schools participated in the AMTA contest. Lasell competed against teams from Grand Canyon University, Brandeis University, Wisconsin Lutheran University, and the University of Pittsburgh, finishing with a 1-6-1 record. Team members Jamie Herland ’21, Juliana Denning ’22, Sydney Carter ’23, Rande Monahan ’23, Jonalys Pena ’24, Erica Costa ’23, Enzo Ramirez ’23, and Kemley Joseph ’23 represented Lasell majors including psychology, sociology, legal studies, criminal justice, and law and public affairs. 

“The goal of the Mock Trial Practicum and participation in AMTA competitions is to teach students to think on their feet — a skill that is valuable in any field,” said Professor Steve Rosenthal.

In March, all eight members of the Lasell DECA team placed in regional competition against Endicott College, Clark University, Stonehill College, UMass Dartmouth, Middlesex Community College, and Curry College to advance them to the International Career Development Conference (ICDC) competition later this spring. Members placed in areas of competition relevant to their major at Lasell, including marketing management and communications (Meaghan Csongor ’24, Sophia Couto ’24, Kares Mack ’24, Lauren True ’23, Michael Woo ’23), financial accounting (Madison Aubin ’23, Victoria Savluk ’23), and travel and tourism management (Jillian Nangle ’24).

For students involved with Lasell’s on-campus radio station, WLAS, 2021 was a milestone year for their performance at the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System annual awards. Last year, Lasell won 11 awards; in 2021, the station walked away with 15 total awards and a record-breaking six first-place awards. Lasell won first-place accolades for its logo (alum Cameron Fratus ’16), public service promotion and announcement (Charlotte Gitelman ’21), and TV sports director (Taylor Viles ’22); Professor Brian Wardyga won Best Television Station Advisor and the Tom Gibson Award for Outstanding Engineering. The station also received finalist trophies for on-air personality (Riley Smith), sports play-by-play (Viles, Ryan Lyzak ’20), commercial (alums John MacDonald and Johnathan Pierce), video sports program and video sports play-by-play (Viles), promotions director (Nora Ortegas ’21), and social media director (Kat McHale ’21).