BVU Alumni Attorneys Invite Professor, Students to Hear Arguments Before Iowa Supreme Court
Jessica Zupp of Zupp and Zupp Law Firm, P.C. in Denison joins sister, Jennifer Zupp, in hosting BVU class for arguments in Donna Reed Theatre
Buena Vista University political science students had the opportunity to hear oral arguments presented in person before the Iowa Supreme Court as the court held a session in Denison at an event hosted in part by Jessica Zupp and her twin sister, Jennifer Zupp, both of whom practice law together at Zupp and Zupp Law Firm, P.C., a firm they co-founded in 2013.
The Zupps are 2003 graduates of BVU, having double-majored in criminal justice and political science with a concentration in Spanish.
“Every year, the Iowa Supreme Court takes a couple of oral argument sessions on the road and the Justices believe in public outreach,” says Jessica Zupp. “This year, they chose Denison for one of these sessions. Their communications director talked to our Crawford County Bar Association President to ask if we’d like to help set up and organize the event. We said, ‘We’d love to.’”
“The whole experience had me feeling like I was back at home, only the class was in Denison instead of back on the BVU campus.”
Attorney Jessica Zupp, 2003 BVU graduate
Both Zupps have served as President of the Crawford County Bar Association.
Jessica Zupp then reached out to their alma mater to see if Dr. Bradley Best, Professor of Political Science, wished to bring students one hour south to Denison for the event held in the Donna Reed Theatre. In no time, several students accepted the field trip invitation.
The evening began with an invitation-only reception with the Iowa Supreme Court Justices. The official hearing saw both sides of the case presenting for 15 minutes followed by five minutes of rebuttal. The Iowa Supreme Court then allowed for 20 minutes of questions about the Court and its work from the audience.
“I almost felt like I was back in school with my Professor, Dr. Best, who hasn’t changed,” Jessica Zupp says. “It was wonderful to host current BVU students in our community of Denison.”
“It was fascinating to watch our students react to the constitutional claims surfacing in the case submitted to the court,” Best says. “It reveals that our students are well prepared to evaluate actual ‘live’ disputes in their full complexity. It also affirms the close relationship between our programs and the liberal arts goal of building active, engaged minds.”
“Sitting before the court, I thought back to myself as a freshman three years ago,” says William Hatchitt. “That college student would be lost in the language and questions asked during the trial. However, now as a senior, I can fully understand their arguments. Not only that, I could also anticipate some legal arguments about the law as well. The BVU political science field is in good hands. The professors who teach the courses know what they are teaching and will lead you from not knowing anything about law to fully understanding a complex legal case.”
The Iowa Supreme Court issued its ruling a few weeks later and Jessica Zupp sent it to Best to share it with his class.
“The class now has a 100-percent fresh and up-to-date primer on the implied consent law,” Zupp says.
Zupp, who is a member of the BVU National Alumni Board, has a fresh perspective on students now involved in the courses she took a couple of decades ago.
“The whole experience had me feeling like I was back at home, only the class was in Denison instead of back on the BVU campus,” she says.