Class of 2020: Senior Sendoff
By Zion Miller, Class of 2021
Chatterjee and Witte hold up the shirts of their respective law schools.
The 2020 Spring Semester has ended and with its end, old friends go on to new beginnings. Seniors Trisha Chatterjee and Madeline Witte are now official alumni of both Miami University and Miami Mock Trial, and are both moving onwards to bright futures in law school. MMT has been blessed to have such strong competitors and amazing team members for the past four years and looks forward to seeing the amazing things they accomplish in the future.
Trisha Chatterjee’s career has been defined by her larger-than-life witnesses, never failing to elicit a laugh from judges. She will always remember her role as Ashley Thornhill in MTS v. Kosack, wearing a dance costume in a courtroom as Charlie Waters in State v. Hendricks, and screaming bloody murder in the middle of trial with no one batting an eyelash as Kelly Doos in State v. Ryder. Her witness skills led to an award winning performance at Indiana University’s 2019 tournament. Her favorite memories include exploring cities like NYC and Philadelphia with her friends on tournament weekends, presiding over the 2020 Kentucky High School State Championships with her fellow MMT members, and captaining teams to multiple SPAMTA victories. She will always remember the last year Miami took two teams to nationals--2019--and seeing all her team’s hard work pay off by finishing second in their division. Chatterjee remembers decreasing stress by making friendship bracelets over spring break trying to make a nationals case happen.
Starting in Fall of 2020, Chatterjee will attend the University of Dayton School of Law in Ohio where she hopes to explore immigration law and eventually become a public defender. Until then, her summer plans are “vibing to Taylor Swift and doing puzzles.”
As she reflects on her time with MMT, Chatterjee says: “Miami Mock Trial isn’t just a public speaking and trial advocacy organization: it’s friends and family. This is a special group--talented and brilliant, but kind and gracious. This organization has provided me with memories and friendships that will last a lifetime, alongside the professional skills: public speaking, thinking on my feet, speaking out for causes I believe in, and being confident, even in adversity.”
Madeline Witte has been a double-threat for Miami, performing as both an attorney and a witness throughout her career. Both roles have led to great success; Witte has awarded at the Queen City tournament (2016), Spartan Throwdown (2018), Happy Valley (2018), Cincinnati Regional (2019), and the Hamilton ORCS (2019) as an attorney, and at the Cornshucker Challenge in both 2017 and 2019 as a witness. Her favorite roles have been portraying Kerry Bell Leon in State v. Hendricks and Jordan Ryder in State v. Ryder, as well as crossing Danny Kosack and closing on Kosack’s incompetence in MTS v. Kosack. The best memories of her mock trial career include learning that both Miami A and B got bids to the 2019 national tournament in Philadelphia, driving to the courthouse on tournament mornings while blasting music to get pumped up, and pre-round huddles followed by her fellow lady leader, Isabella Shwarze, leading Miami’s Little Red Wagon chant. She will always appreciate the loving and supportive community that MMT has given her.
"This program was an enormous part of my college experience as MMT provided a community with a strong sense of love and support," she says.
Starting in Fall of 2020, Witte will attend Marquette University Law School in her home state of Wisconsin. After she graduates, she hopes to become a criminal defense attorney and eventually a public defender.
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