LU Moment: LU Makes History | S2 Ep. 41

Shelly Vitanza: Welcome to the LU Moment! I’m Shelly Vitanza, the Director of Public Affairs at Lamar University. Each week, we showcase the great events, activities, programs, projects and events and people at Lamar University. Well, there’s cause for celebration on the LU campus! The Lamar University Dance Team is celebrating its tenth year! It’s their anniversary. Since 2010, the Lamar University Dance Team has been performing at athletic events, telling stories through dance and offering its members a place that feels like family. In 2010, the LU Dance Team replaced the Spirit Team which was a group of cheerleaders and dancers who performed mainly at basketball games. However, when football came into LU in 2010, cheer and dance separated, and the LU dance team was established. We are really proud of our dance team. They are not just dancers who perform at different sporting events, but they are real ambassadors of Lamar University. During the years, the Dance Team has performed at many community events. They performed in parades, visited schools and dance studios and also dance clinics and summer camps. Hundreds of kids, my daughter included, loves dance clinics and the summer camps. It’s just amazing. And each year they also host a spring show. They didn't't't't’t get to do one this year because of COVID, but next year, April 30^th, May 1^st, 2021, save the date, the dance team will host its 15^th spring show. They started that when there was a Spirit Team, so Spring Show is older than the Dance Team. So, congratulations to the dance team and its dynamic leader Brixey Blankenship. They are just an amazing group here on LU campus and we are proud of them.

Congratulations are also in order to Kurt Dyrhaug. He’s a Lamar University professor who teaches studio art sculptures and is also a distinguished faculty research fellow and he has a piece of artwork in the Center for Contemporary Arts National Juried Exhibition in Abaline. His work was chosen, and the name of his work is “Small Two Six Two Wing.”  It will be on display until November 2^nd. It’s quite an honor to have a piece of work chosen to be in that exhibition so congratulations to him.

We also want to recognize Dr. Kathryn Washington, assistant professor of educational leadership here at LU. She has been tapped out to serve as the Texas Elementary Principles and Supervisors Association Region Six President. How about that? She is one of twenty regional presidents designated to lead the Texas Elementary Principles and Supervisors Association direction and maintain a positive impact on legislators, policymakers and other stakeholders in order to assure quality pre-k through 8^th grade education for all Texas students. We are really proud of our faculty who take leadership roles that impact the community and Dr. Washington has done that with this position and in many ways, so congratulations to her.

Katey McCall and Ali Hamza on Moot Court Team Advancement

Shelly Vitanza: You know, I didn't't't't’t plan it this way but it’s kind of the week of celebration and congratulations. You need to know that we have had two students who have made history here at Lamar University, Ali Hamza and Katey McCall, both Reaud Honors College Students majoring in political science and a minor in legal studies. They made history last weekend by being the first LU Moot Court Team to advance in championship ground in the University of Texas at Dallas invitational Moot Court Tournament. Because not everyone makes history, especially when they are so young, I know I haven’t made history yet, but these two have made history. I’ve decided that history makers should be on the LU Moment. So, I welcome and congratulate them.

Katey, we’ll start with you. People just want to know you, you’re very active on campus. I walk across campus and I see you. You are getting people to vote, your involved in a sorority, I mean you’ve got a lot going on. Tell us your story. Where are you from, and how you came to Lamar, and what all your involved in.

Katey McCall: Yes ma’am! Thank you for having us here! Like Miss Shelly said, my name is Katey McCall and I am from Orangeville, TX, a little town about 30-35 minutes away from here. I grew up on a small family farm with a bunch of interesting animals like donkeys, goats, chickens, peacocks…

Shelly Vitanza: Peacocks?

Katey McCall: Yes ma’am. We have about thirteen of them. They keep multiplying. We started with three! I came to Lamar in 2017. My sister was already a sophomore here when I came in, and I knew Lamar was where I wanted to go. It was the only school I applied to. It was my top choice, and I was really excited to get in. I’m a member of the Reaud Honors College, I’m the president of Lamar University’s Pre-Law Society, Caring Cardinals, Order of Omega and I’m involved in numerous other organizations.

Shelly Vitanza: This ambassador program you just got involved in, tell us about that.

Katey McCall: Yes ma’am. I’m a Texas Civic Ambassador, so that is through civic life. And basically, they chose 32 students across Texas to be ambassadors to Civic Life, get their communities to engage as much as possible, and work towards bettering education for civic events.

Shelly Vitanza: Which is great and why I think you were pushing people to vote. You were out on campus, encouraging people to register to vote, which is wonderful. So, talk to us about this mewt trial and why you got involved in that.

Katey McCall: My senior year of high school, I came to the political science reception at the beginning of the year and I got a small scholarship from the department and a met a student named Robert Root and he told me about Moot Court Association and a watched him playfully debate one of his friends. It was probably the most terrifying experiences of my entire life. He could argue. He told me about the Moot Court Team and really encouraged me to get involved. Whenever I started working at the student assistant floor of political science and psychology department, I learned a little bit more and I got pulled in as a sophomore and never left.

Shelly Vitanza: We’re going to come back to you, but Ali, talk to us about where you are from and how you came to Lamar and what all your involved in.

Ali Hamza: Yes ma’am. I’m from Port Neches, Texas and I kind of knew that I was going to come to Lamar University. So, my dad attended Lamar, he taught at Lamar, my mom attended Lamar and my brothers came to Lamar…

Shelly Vitanza: You can’t break out. You are all cardinals.

Ali Hamza: I had to follow the tradition. In fact, Lamar was the only school I applied for, but I ended up receiving the Maribell from Lamar University, so I was excited. I had to follow the tradition.

Shelly Vitanza: That’s right. And you are a political science major?

Ali Hamza: Yes ma’am.

Shelly Vitanza: What made you choose or pick political science? 

Ali Hamza: Well it honestly goes back to something deeper than that. In high school, I wasn’t the best student. I was probably ranked at least 90 or 100 out of 300 of the students. I wasn’t the top student at all, and I wanted to change that, so the summer of my senior year, I said, “what can I do to become a better student?”

 I ended up calling a bunch of people who graduated and went to law school from Lamar University. They said, “get close to Dr. David, get close to Dr. David.”

Shelly Vitanza: Dr. David, that’s the key?

Ali Hamza: I was actually a psychology major before but them I switched to political science with Dr. David. That ended up helping me out and it led me to so many open doors especially with research, from research, led me to the Moot Court and then starting learning about constitutional laws. It’s what made us a lot better this year, I think.

Shelly Vitanza: Explain that. Constitutional laws? Is that a class you took? How did that make you better for Moot Court?

Ali Hamza: Well for me, personally, she gets into the IRAC method which is issue, rule, application and conclusion. You do the IRAC method for all the briefs, because it’s not just one case you are arguing, you are really arguing with all the cases in the Supreme Court. So, they give you a certain amount and you have to argue. In constitutional law, you don’t listen to the philosophy of it, but also the practicality of the law, like this is what happens when they implied it. When they said, “separate but equal,” they don’t really mean separate but equal. You start digging into that and when you do Moot Court, you apply the same concept. Well, this is just like a race case in Brown vs. Board of Education or this is just like another case like Chaplinksky vs. New Hampshire. You can just keep hitting these new cases and it really helps.

Shelly Vitanza:  Yeah, you guys are on fire! You love this stuff. So, talk to me about these Moot Court Tournaments. It sounds high-pressure and explain to me what happens.

Katey McCall: So, do you want a rundown of with COVID, or without COVID?

Shelly Vitanza: Yeah, tell me how this one went.

Katey McCall: So, our coach, Craig Tahaney, he’s been making us practice over Zoom, since July. He knew that was the forum we would be getting, and he wanted us to get used to it because it’s weird arguing into a camera screen when you’re used to seeing people and their facial expressions. If a judge does not look like they are enjoying what you are saying, you move on. You don’t get that as much over zoom, especially when they are little boxes. We’ve probably gotten used to it. Being personal over Zoom, is a really good skill to have.

Shelly Vitanza: That’s a good skill to have these days!

Katey McCall: Basically, what happens is we came pretty early in the morning around 8am, this past week and this week we’ll be there at about 10am, so we’ll at least get to sleep in, and we all sign in through Zoom. They put us in a waiting room with our actual school and then they’ll break us out to our actual rounds with the other schools. So, each team is a team of two, like me and Ali and the other teams and we’d go against other schools and we all have the same issue. There are two constitutional questions before us. I argue the issue of compelled speech and Ali argued freedom of association. It depends which one you like, you’re either a petitioner, the person suing, saying that their rights have been violated, or you are the respondent, which basically states, “I haven’t violated your rights.” You have to be able to argue both.

Ali Hamza: I think the real pressure comes from a fact that probably enough… is two days before the tournament.

Shelly Vitanza: This is your coach and your director of the Moot team.

Ali Hamza: Yes ma’am.

I told him, “Mr. Tahaney, I’m not feeling good about the tournament.”

He said, “Well, why? You guys are great!”

I was like, “look, we’re going against University of North Texas, University of Texas at Dallas, and you’re looking at all these schools and every single one of them has private funding. Every single one. UT Dallas has a trial court lawyer or professor. Every single one of them has these people and their budgets are probably in the ten of thousands. All of the judges of the tournament are UT Dallas alumni. It was going to go against us.

He said, “No. You need to believe in yourself.”

I was like, “I’m not sure.”

Katey and I both underestimated ourselves, because in the first three rounds we thought we didn't't't't’t win that. But we actually blew them out of the court!

Shelly Vitanza: So, Katey was #9, and Ali, you were #1!

Katey McCall: Yes ma’am!

Shelly Vitanza: Congratulations! That’s amazing!

Katey McCall: Thank you! We didn't't't't’t expect it. They said #10 and then the name and then they said “#9, Katey McCall.” We just looked at each other.

And then it clicked, if I got one… you are higher than me, because I did all the math for our points.  So, we are just sitting there listening to it and they get to like #2… and we are just staring at each other and that’s when they got to number one, and I was shocked. What shocked us even more was that after that, they feed you, they refeed you.

And they said, number one, Lamar University. For us to hear that, it boosted our confidence. For regionals, we’re going to be going against twice the number of teams, but I’m confident that we are going to kick butt.

Shelly Vitanza: You are! You’re going to do great! And that’s coming up when?

Katey McCall: This Saturday and Sunday.

Shelly Vitanza: We’ve got just a few minutes left. I want to talk about your plans for the future and your favorite memories from Lamar University. Katey, go.

Katey McCall: So, my plans for the future are taking off right now, I’m applying to law school as we speak.

Shelly Vitanza: I would have guessed.

Katey McCall: I’m turning in all my applications early so I’ll have them in by November 1^st. I should know where I’m going to law school in early January. So, that would be nice. And someday I want to be an attorney and be an advocate for the people. My favorite memory from Lamar University, that is a hard one.

Shelly Vitanza: Well, you think about it. Ali, tell us what your plans are, you’ve got another year here at LU.

Ali Hamza: Yes ma’am. My plans currently, I’m saving up money for an internship I landed in Washington D.C. It’s an internship with an investor… and it’s regarding a Humanitarian organization in Washington D.C.

Shelly Vitanza: Right. Restoring health and building lives.

Ali Hamza: I’m excited to do that. In terms of my favorite memory, I’m going to have to side with Katey. I walked into Lamar with an entirely new perspective. The friends and professors I surrounded myself with, that in its entirety, is its own experience and memory. I value that.

Shelly Vitanza: I love that, thank you for sharing! Alright, Katey?

Katey McCall: he political science department at Lamar is a community. Each professor knows all of their students, especially the majors and the minors. All of them know my animals’ names, they know the donkeys, goats, peacocks are all named Kevin from “Up.” They know us and because of that, especially Professor Gubala and Dr. Davis, Mr. Tahaney and Dr. Showers, they been able to get me involved and apply for everything and let me email you all of this stuff. Just keep working towards what you want, and they really support you that way.

Shelly Vitanza: So, one student at a time. That’s one of the things that’s in our 2020-25 strategic plan. We work with one student at a time here at Lamar University and you guys are a testament to that. Thank you so much for sharing and congratulations again for making history and advancing to the championship round at the Moot Court Tournament. We appreciate it.

Alright! You’ve been listening to the LU Moment. I’m Shelly Vitanza, the Director of Public Affairs at Lamar University, the pride of Southeast Texas.