On December 2nd, two teams of SU students participated in the northeast regional APPE Ethics Bowl, a nationwide competition. The Gold team – Sophie Detorie (English), Emily King (Philosophy), Liam McGinnes (Philosophy/Communications), Wyatt Parks (Philosophy/Psychology) and Sara Sellers (Philosophy/Psychology) traveled to Notre Dame, MD. They competed and won in their matches against Westchester University, the US Naval Academy (last year’s national champions), and Virginia Tech University earning a #1 seed entering the quarterfinals where they were eliminated by Tufts University (last year’s runner-up). The Maroon Team- Tiana Cyrelson (Business Management/Marketing), Kate Gerlus (Psychology), Ashley Piper (Psychology), Miranda Surrett (International Studies) and Alexis Yeager (Environmental Studies) competed virtually and won in their match against the University of Pittsburgh but lost their matches against Adams State and Washington & Lee.
Throughout the fall semester, the teams met for several hours a week preparing to analyze the 16 cases given to them created to explore a variety of topics within practical and professional ethics. During each competition match, a case is selected from the set and a moderator poses questions based on that case. These questions seek to delve deeper into the multiple ethical dimensions of the case. A panel of judges probes the teams for further justifications and evaluates answers. Rating criteria are based on intelligibility, focus on ethically relevant considerations, avoidance of ethical irrelevance, and deliberative thoughtfulness. The Philosophy Department and their coach Dr. Grace Clement are very proud of how hard the teams worked to prepare and their success. Ethics Bowl requires strong, dedicated and interdisciplinary approaches to contemporary issues and are always looking for new members to compete. Please consider referring qualified students to the Philosophy Department.