Barton College issued the following announcement on Mar. 7.
Barton College students shined in the recent North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (NCICU) annual Ethics Bowl. The theme of this year’s competition was Ethics in Democracy and Citizenship. Barton was among 13 of the 36 NCICU colleges and universities participating in the Ethics Bowl.
While the traditional trophies were not awarded during the event this year, held virtually because of COVID restrictions, Barton was excited to win the first two rounds of their team pairings competition. Round One, Barton competed against High Point University, discussing Financing Political Campaigns. Round Two, Barton competed against Gardner-Webb University, discussing Voting in the United States. Round Three was a three-way match with Barton College, N.C. Wesleyan College, and William Peace University, discussing the Supreme Court. William Peace won in this third round match.
Normally a two-day event, the Ethics Bowl was compressed into a one-day competition. Because of the truncated competition, unlike the in-person event, an overall winner was not declared this year.
“I loved watching our Barton students passionately argue their perspective on these cases that they carefully researched and prepared to defend,” shared Dr. Tamara Avant, associate professor of psychology at Barton College and the campus coordinator for the Barton Ethics Bowl Team. “Seeing them advocate for political change and social justice makes me so optimistic about the future.”
Barton’s Ethics Bowl Team included senior Kelly O’Sullivan (gerontology major), freshman Slyssa Krasovich (theatre performance major), junior Harrison West (criminology and criminal justice sciences, and political science double major), senior Patrick Garvey (biology major), senior Rebecca Ashton (business administration major), and junior Jessica Simmons (mass communications major).
Each Ethics Bowl team consisted of four-to-six students. A campus coordinator worked with the students to prepare them for the competition. And, a number of business and government leaders volunteered to serve as judges and moderators for the matches.
“We were honored to partner with these campuses to present the Ethics Bowl for the 11th year,” said Rebecca Leggett, director of Programs for NCICU and coordinator of the Ethics Bowl. “The exploration of democracy and citizenship is as relevant today as any time in our history, and important to our students’ educational foundation.”
The NCICU Ethics Bowl was made possible by sponsorships that allow students to participate at no cost to themselves or their institutions. These sponsors have continued to support the Ethics Bowl despite the change in format during the Covid pandemic. The Presenting Sponsor was Truist; Benefactors were Sarah West and Tom Dominick; Associate Sponsors were Duke Energy, McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture, Mount Olive Pickle Co., TIAA, Wren Foundation, A. Hope Williams; and Friends were Cherry Bekaert, Coca-Cola Consolidated, CORT, Fidelity Investments, Gregory Poole, Piedmont Natural Gass, Southern Bank, Wegmans, Melanie Chrisp-Thorpe, Colleen Kinser, and Liz and Stephen Riley.
“Students consistently cite the NCICU Ethics Bowl as a highlight of their college experience,” said Hope Williams, president of NCICU. “We deeply appreciate the corporate and civic leaders who made this event possible through financial contributions and by volunteering their time as judges and moderators.”
Original source can be found here.
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