Hartwick College Students Showcase Legal Talent in Moot Court Championship Victory

Hartwick College hosted the final round of its 2025 Moot Court Competition on Nov. 20 in Shineman Chapel. Cooper Cohen '28 of Delhi, N.Y., and John "Jack" Reichel '26 of West Islip, N.Y., emerged as the Io Bruce Champions of the Hartwick College Moot Court Competition. Finalists Adilyam Imyarova '27 of Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Sarah Matumbura '26 of Waterbury, Conn., also earned recognition for their outstanding performances. Io Bruce was a high school teacher of Thomas Holmgren '13, whose legacy reflects "rigor, generosity, and a lifelong commitment to students."

The competition-created and led by Holmgren-featured a case he wrote on the constitutionality of a high school search involving a drug-sniffing dog named Stella. Reichel also received the Richard Pomp Orator Award. The oratory award recognizes Professor Richard D. Pomp, one of the nation's leading legal minds known for his clarity, creativity and command of complex issues.

As director of the competition, Holmgren '13 also recruited dozens of Hartwick alumni lawyers to judge the multiple rounds of the competition with each of the 50 Hartwick student participants getting to argue at least twice. Aaron Carbone '03 and Carlo A. C. de Oliveira '02, returned to Oyaron Hill to serve alongside Holmgren as Supreme Court Justices for the final round.

Holmgren also contributed thousands of dollars to support the cash prizes for the competition, which includes $1500 for each of the champions and $500 for each of the runner-ups, and encourages his fellow alumni to join him in making a gift so that Hartwick can offer this competition every two years going forward.