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VWU Students to Deliberate Pandemic Ethics
VFIC and Wells Fargo sponsor the 22nd annual statewide collegiate Ethics Bowl January 30-31
University News | January 20, 2022
Virginia Wesleyan’s 2022 Ethics Bowl Team has been preparing to compete in the 22nd annual statewide collegiate Ethics Bowl sponsored by the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges (VFIC) and Wells Fargo. This year’s event will be on January 30-31, on the campus of Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia.
Five students from VWU are preparing to compete head-to-head against other highly qualified student teams from Virginia’s leading independent colleges and universities, deliberating a variety of case studies relating to this year’s Ethics Bowl event theme, “Pandemic Ethics.”
Members of the 2022 Virginia Wesleyan University student team are freshmen Casey Bennett, Amalia Houff (alternate), Christian Palmisano, Rowan Stuart, and sophomore Kainaat Trehan. The faculty coordinator for the team is Professor of Communication Dr. Kathy Merlock Jackson.
Jackson taught a one-credit course in the fall, Ethics Bowl Workshop, to help the students prepare.
“Each week students argued sample cases which we then critiqued,” noted Jackson. "Professor of Philosophy, Dr. Larry Hultgren, came in to speak about ethics, and local attorney Hank Howell regularly attended to offer advice.”
On January 27, the Robert Nusbaum Center at VWU will host a debate demonstration, where members of the campus community will have the opportunity to interact, critique and discuss deliberations with the VWU Ethics Bowl Team prior to the competition at Randolph-Macon. This demonstration will be held in VWU’s Lighthouse: Center for Exploration and Discovery in Clarke Hall at 7 p.m.
“All of the students competing this year are new to this event,” said Jackson. “All of them are in the Batten Honors College, and they are remarkable. We look forward to a stable team for the next few years and a lot of growth.”
The 2022 Wells Fargo Ethics Bowl will begin with an opening session on Sunday, January 30, at 2:30 p.m. in Randolph-Macon’s Blackwell Auditorium, with the first rounds scheduled for 3:30 p.m. in various rooms in Blackwell Hall and Payne Hall. On Monday, January 31, rounds three and four will begin at 8:45 a.m. The final round of competition will take place at 11:20 a.m. in the Blackwell Auditorium. During the event, many notable individuals from a variety of career fields including; business, law, education, finance, journalism and others will listen to team presentations and offer reactions to the students’ presentations. The winning team will be announced at 12:30 p.m. on Monday.
Virginia Wesleyan University's 2020 Ethics Bowl team, comprised of Alex Powers ‘21, Anitra Howard ‘22, and Criofan Shaw ‘23, took home the Batten Trophy when they won the last Ethics Bowl in 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was cancelled in 2021. Deliberating the topic, “Ethics and Higher Education,” the 2020 team edged out Hampden-Sydney College in the final round to win the Batten Trophy for the second time in the event’s history. Since that time, the trophy, named for Ethics Bowl supporters Jane P. and Frank Batten, Sr., has been displayed on VWU’s campus.
The VFIC Ethics Bowl program was first conceptualized in 1997 by the VFIC Ethics Task Force, co-chaired by prominent journalist and former VFIC Trustee Roger Mudd, and Phillip Stone, former president of Bridgewater College and Sweet Briar College. The mission of the task force was to explore opportunities to involve students at the 16 VFIC colleges in the lively debate and consideration of applied ethics—real world dilemmas that affect people's lives in increasingly complex ways.
Virginia Wesleyan won the very first VFIC Ethics Bowl in 2000, deliberating the topic of “Ethics and Society.” The VWU team was awarded runner-up in 2014, deliberating on the topic of “Ethics and Health Care,” and again earned runner-up in 2019 on the topic of “Ethics and Social Justice.” The University served as host site for the event in 2005, 2011, and 2017.
Founded in 1952, the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges is a nonprofit consortium supporting the programs and students of 16 leading independent colleges in the Commonwealth: Bridgewater College, Emory & Henry College, Hampden-Sydney College, Hollins University, Mary Baldwin University, Marymount University, Randolph College, Randolph-Macon College, Roanoke College, Shenandoah University, Sweet Briar College, University of Lynchburg, University of Richmond, Virginia Union University, Virginia Wesleyan University, and Washington and Lee University.
Learn more about the VFIC Ethics Program.