November 15, 2013
On Saturday, Nov. 16, St. Mary’s University hosted 16 teams from 12 universities at the Texas Regional competition of the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl, an annual event where teams argue a position on topical ethical issues.
Cases are often taken from recent news headlines and can come from any conceivable area of applied ethics, such as research, business, civil liberties, politics, constitutional law or personal morality. Students spend weeks analyzing the cases, but do not know what questions they will be tackling.
The event at St. Mary’s was one of 10 regional Ethics Bowl competitions held this fall around the country. From these competitions, 32 teams moved on to the Eighteenth Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl Championship in Jacksonville, Fla., on Feb. 27, 2014.
Schools from Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma participated at St. Mary’s: Brazosport College, Oklahoma Christian University, Oklahoma State University, St. Mary’s University, Texas Lutheran University, Texas State University, Texas Wesleyan University, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, University of Central Oklahoma, University of Oklahoma, University of Texas-Pan American and the University of the Incarnate Word. Including students, coaches, judges, moderators and spectators, there were about 150 people involved.
The other regionals were held at Sacred Heart University, Clemson University, St. Petersburg College, Marian University, Illinois Institute of Technology, the University of Colorado-Boulder, Utah Valley University, National Hispanic University, and a university to be announced in the Seattle area.
The Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl is sponsored by the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics.