News

The University of Florida chapter of Phi Alpha Delta (PAD) brought home eight awards, including several first-place honors, at the fraternity’s national pre-law conference. The annual event, which resumed an in-person format for the first time since 2019, was held Nov. 3 to 5 in Arlington, Virginia.

UF’s PAD teams won first and third place in the Mock Trial Competition against other PAD chapters across the country. The results mark 12 consecutive years of first-place finishes for UF’s chapter. YESHA SHAH, a political science and economics major, served as the chapter’s mock trial director.

“Attending the conference this year was a great opportunity to connect with other chapters from across the country while being recognized for the achievements that our chapter accomplished along the way,” said UF PAD’s president AMANDA LEE. “I am incredibly proud to lead such an amazing group of people and future attorneys.”

First-place team:

• Cayman Forbes (Political Science & International Studies)
• Kevin Bjorkman (Political Science & Economics)
• Brooke Reeves (Economics)
• Aleco Hamrick (Psychology & Economics)

Third-place team:

• • Michelle Topoloski (Business Administration)
  • Derek Zhang (Economics & Political Science)
  • Christian Rodriguez (Political Science)
  • Kieran Patel (History)

The group also took home several other awards in honor of individual achievements. Aleco Hamrick earned the first-place award for Outstanding Attorney. For the second consecutive year, Associate Instructional Professor in the Department of Psychology BRIAN CAHILL earned first place for the Dr. Charles J. Fleener Outstanding Advisor Award.

“Being able to support the outstanding students that make up Phi Alpha Delta is a highlight of my workload each and every year and I am honored to be recognized for my work,” Cahill said. “But what is most important to me is highlighting my students whom I deeply care about and am beyond proud of — Go Gators!”

In addition, UF’s PAD chapter earned several awards for its outstanding performance. The chapter earned first place for the Don Huston Outstanding Pre-Law Chapter Award, as well as the top Outstanding Recruitment Program Award. In recognition of their local and national impact, the team came in third place for the Community Service Programming Award. They also placed second for the Professional Program Award.

Congratulations to the officers and members of the UF Phi Alpha Delta chapter!

• Amanda Lee (Psychology), President
• Aniruddh Chandrasekhar (Biotechnology), Vice President
• Brayden McLellan (Political Science & History), Secretary
• Victoria Wendell (Finance), Treasurer

Learn more about UF’s chapter of Phi Alpha Delta.