JMU Competes in Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl

This was the second time that JMU fielded a team at an Ethics Bowl competition. Along with Kailee Cunningham, a marketing major, the team consisted of students from a vast array of backgrounds and areas of study who each have a vested interest in unraveling moral dilemmas. 

The students first enrolled in a class where they learned the 8 Key Questions (8KQ) for ethical reasoning in depth, along with various argumentative strategies and debate techniques. Then throughout the semester, the team worked together to use the 8KQ in analyzing fifteen difficult cases that would be argued at the competition. 

In the first round, the team went against Yale and discussed cases dealing with midwife practices in the Amish community and law enforcement’s usage of genealogical data, and ended up losing to Yale by only one point. After falling to Salisbury University in the next match, the team finished off the day by dominating in a round against St. Francis, where they discussed cases of trans-racialism and reinstating felons’ right to vote. 

According to Scott Ingram, “Throughout the competition, JMU stood out as an exemplar of critical thinkers and cordial individuals. Our students set the tone for what was expected in each round and clearly showed that they were capable of analyzing both sides of a case.” He went to say, “This competition showed how useful the 8 Key Questions are in both interrogating moral questions and serving as an easily adaptable language to effectively communicate the complexities of the question at hand. It is encouraging to see such great potential in a group of students who care deeply about finding answers to pressing moral problems and who are able to reason to and articulate possible solutions to these problems.”