WMU Comes in Fifth in Regional Ethics Bowl Competition

KALAMAZOO--Western Michigan University came in fifth out of 12 teams on Nov. 21 in the regional qualifier for the national Ethics Bowl championship.
WMU finished with a 2-1 record, along with Harper College. Three teams ended preliminary rounds with an undefeated record, including the eventual champ, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The top four teams will compete at nationals in March in Cincinnati. This will be the first time that WMU has not competed in the national competition since it started in 1997.
“The level of competition gets better and better each year,” noted Assistant Professor of Philosophy Dan Milsky, who coordinated the regional competition at Northeastern Illinois University.
WMU won its preliminary rounds against the University of Detroit-Mercy and Bowling Green State University, but lost to the eventual second-place winner, Oakland University.
WMU won the Upper Midwest Regional Ethics Bowl in 2006 and 2007. WMU has placed in the top ten at nationals four times, most recently in March 2009.
Members of WMU's team were: Tara Auxier, a senior majoring in communication studies; Peter Cullen Bryan, a senior studying English and history; Jason Elkins, a senior studying professional ethics and jazz composition; and Joshua Thomas, a senior studying chemical engineering.
Dr. Sandra Borden, who is co-director of the Ethics Center, is the team’s faculty sponsor. The coaches were Joshua Upson and David Charlton, part-time instructors in the Philosophy Department.  Heather Schild, the Ethics Center’s graduate assistant, also helped prepare the team.
“As always, WMU’s team presented strong arguments and showed exceptional strength thinking on their feet in response to critiques from the opposing teams and the judges,” Dr. Borden said. “Even though we’re disappointed we’re not headed to nationals, we’re proud of the strong reputation we’ve built and wish the teams qualifying out of our region the best in Cincinnati.”
Last year, two teams from the Upper Midwest Region – WMU and Northeastern Illinois – made it to the quarterfinals in national competition.
The Ethics Bowl provides students with an opportunity to practice applying moral theories and argumentation principles. They receive 15 case studies in advance involving ethical issues in a number of practical contexts, including engineering, law, medicine, personal relationships, school and politics.
During a match, each team takes turns presenting its position on a case and critiquing the other team's position on a different case. Teams must answer questions about their positions from a panel of judges. Judges assign scores based on logical consistency, clarity, focus and thoroughness.
For more information about IEB, visit http://ethics.iit.edu/eb/index.html.