The UT Tower will shine with burnt orange lights Wednesday, May 5 to celebrate national championships claimed by academic clubs across the university.

The students being honored with the Tower lighting are:

UT Law School

Elizabeth Hamilton, Alex Gaudio, and Mason Currah

• The UT Law School team won the Judge John R. Brown Admiralty Moot Court Competition team.
• The students were Elizabeth Hamilton (’21), Alex Gaudio (’21), and Mason Currah (’22). They beat 28 other teams from across the nation to take home the Champion title, the best overall brief of the competition, and the best team advocates. Elizabeth Hamilton also won the prize for best individual oralist of the competition and best oralist of the elimination rounds. The team was coached by Carly Toepke and Ben Walton.

Victoria Fazzino, Jensen Martinez, and Zachary Dwyer

• The UT Law School team won the 2021 Costello National Criminal Law Mock Trial Competition.
• The students were Victoria Fazzino (3L), Jensen Martinez (3L) and Zachary Dwyer (3L). The students were coached by Lauren Aldredge (2011 UT Law grad) and Carl Guthrie (2017 UT Law grad). The Costello Competition simulates the evolving and unexpected nature of real-life criminal trials by revealing unknown facts and witnesses as the competition progresses. The 2021 Costello Competition consisted of 32 teams from 29 different schools.

Sarah Propst and Cody Johnson

• The UT Law School won the Giles S. Rich Moot Court Competition, sponsored by the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA).
• The students were Sarah Propst (‘21) and Cody Johnson (’21). The team was coached by Peter McCabe and John Williams (’19).

Amber Magee and Michael Vance

• The UT Law School team won the 2020 Thurgood Marshall National Moot Court Competition (hosted by the National Black Law Students Association).
• The students were Amber Magee (’20) & Michael Vance (‘20). The students were coached by Ashley Nwonuma (‘16 UT Law) and Daniel Olds (‘10). The NBLSA Thurgood Marshall National Moot Court Competition is made up of 18 teams in a competition designed to simulate an appellate proceeding.

Rizwan Popatia and Jamie Scherbeh

• The Law School’s team won the national championship at the Energy Law Negotiation Competition hosted by South Texas College of Law.
• The competition was held in March 2021. The students on the team were Rizwan Popatia (3L) and Jamie Scherbeh (2L). They were assisted by 1Ls Jack Davis and Sterling Lykes. They were coached by Tom Hillebrand, UT Law class of 2014.

Dell Medical School

Zachary Timmons

• He has been selected to receive a 2021 Excellence in Public Health Award from the U.S. Public Health Service Physician Professional Advisory Committee

Julianna Khoury

• She won the “The Kern National Network for Caring and Character in Medicine” contest.
• Medical schools invited students to submit an essay that reflected on the nature of character and a character exemplar. The purpose was to prompt students to reflect on the importance of Character to medical professionalism.

Caroline Green (MBA Student), Amit Rao (McCombs), Hannah Rosenthal (Dell Med/McCombs), Praveen Satarasinghe (Dell Med/McCombs), and Emily Nguyen Steemers (McCombs)

• Won the 2020 Kellogg Biotech and Healthcare Case Competition, a competition involving 55 teams from across the world. Teams were creating ideas for evaluating the potential of a new drug therapy, in addition to an investment recommendation.

McCombs Graduate Business School

Wes Straker, Alex Giarrantano, Elise Gabriel, and Jose Mendez

• These MBA students won the Michigan Ross Renewable Energy Case Competition
• They also won the Tepper Cleantech Case Competition

Moody College of Communication

Zach Watts and Het Desai

• On April 12, the Texas Debate team of Zach Watts and Het Desai won the Cross Examination Debate Association National Tournament. Led by Moody College professor and team coach, Dr. Brendon Bankey, their win marks Texas’ first national championship in intercollegiate policy debate. After six preliminary debates, Watts and Desai entered elimination debates as the 12^th seed. In elimination debates, they defeated Emporia State, Kansas, and two teams from Michigan to reach the final round. In the final round, they defeated the University of Central Oklahoma on a 5-4 decision. Texas Debate is proud to bring its first debate national championship to the Texas Forensics student organization.