University of Lynchburg’s Ethics Bowl team won second place in a 14-college regional tournament Saturday at Clemson University. The victory gives the LC students the opportunity to debate ethical principles on the national stage in February.
Dr. Laura Kicklighter, the ethics bowl coach and a Westover Honors professor, said said her students worked hard and represented LC well. “I’m so proud of them. This is definitely the strongest team that I’ve had,” she said. “I’m just so happy that their hard work paid off.”
The Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl challenges students to address a variety of ethical dilemmas presented in case studies. The regional contest includes cases covering topics such as the beauty standards expected of plus-size models, online gaming, the future of Hitler’s birthplace, and more. In each round of the competition, the teams were given one case and a question to debate.
“The reason we were able to be so successful is we were so well prepared for every single case,” said Judge Browning ’17, co-captain of the Ethics Bowl team.
The expertise on each case was the result of a lot of extra work outside of official practice sessions, Dr. Kicklighter said.
The team also worked well together thanks to co-captains Melissa Micek ’16 and Browning, as well as guidance from Courtney Zongrone ’14, who served as assistant coach while she is pursuing her master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling at LC.
A total of 18 teams from 14 different colleges competed in the tournament Saturday. Only Wake Forest University earned more points than LC. With its second place finish, the LC team can compete in the National Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl Competition in Reston, Virginia, on February 21.
