Paralegal Student Wins Top Oralist Award at Mooting Competition
HLOs: 
Maria Rausch, a fourth-year Bachelor of Paralegal Studies student, earned the Top Oralist Award at the prestigious invitational University of Toronto Cup, an international undergraduate mooting competition held on February 1 and 2, 2025. Competing against 66 participants, Maria achieved the highest personal average score of 91.75.
Teaming up with fellow fourth-year student Dion Desserre, the duo ranked fourth among 33 teams after the first day and advanced to the semifinals, securing a victory over the University of Chicago—home to the top-ranked undergraduate mooting program in the United States. The competition featured teams from McGill University, University of Toronto, University of Chicago, Western University, Wilfred Laurier University, McMaster University, York University, Concordia University, Memorial University, and Seneca Polytechnic.
Humber Polytechnic is at the forefront of national undergraduate mooting competitions where mooting teams are required to present legal arguments of notional appeals, often from Supreme Court of Canada decisions. Maria and Dion were finalists at the 2024 Western Cup hosted by the Faculty of Law at Western University and won the 2024 Capital Cup hosted by Carleton University in Ottawa. They expressed their pride in bringing the Humber name to one of Canada’s most prestigious competitions and credited Humber’s support, the guidance of Program Coordinator Bernie Aron, and the coaching of alumna Paige Diebel for their success.
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