By Nate Maki | Staff Writer
Baylor’s Ethics Society sent their new Ethics Bowl team to participate in the regional competition in November, where they placed third and earned a spot to compete in the national competition next month. As they prepare for nationals, they have joined forces with Baylor’s Ethics Initiative to promote each other’s missions on campus.
“[Ethics Initiative Director Dr. Paul Martens] was actually the one who encouraged us to start an Ethics Bowl team,” Boston junior and Ethics Society Executive Chair Hannah Yi said. “We’ve been sending teams to the Bioethics Bowl for a couple of years, but this was the first time we’ve sent an Ethics Bowl team.”
The Ethics Initiative has hosted activities to promote ethics on campus for over a year, including discussions about ethics, luncheons and a Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration on Monday. Meanwhile, the Ethics Society was founded just last semester as a student-led organization, and they have already held open meetings, guest speakers and a study social during finals season.
“I was in charge of putting the first team together,” Las Vegas freshman and Ethics Bowl Officer Shajee Khan said. “I wanted to make the best team possible, and I’m really proud of how it turned out.”
In cooperation with the Ethics Initiative, the Ethics Society has already worked to fund their competitions, as well as publicize the new Ethics Bowl team and their efforts as they pursue a national title.
The national competition will take place in Norfolk, Va., from Feb. 22-23. The Ethics Bowl team will be competing with 36 other undergraduate teams from around the nation and will discuss issues from a range of potential cases including tipping culture, hostile architecture and parental rights.
“For nationals, we have a completely different case set,” Khan said. “We have 17 instead of the usual 15, and they’re very different from the regionals cases. We’ve brought in a new set of graduate students who specialize in those fields, and they’re going to be coming in and helping us with these topics.”
The Ethics Society is currently looking for new members to join the Bioethics Bowl team. Students wishing to join should contact Coach Daniel Crouch. Tryouts end Feb. 3.
“This is such a cool opportunity, and I feel like such few people know about it,” Yi said. “I definitely think this is going to be a landmark experience for a lot of students who participate in it.”
