Ethically Speaking
Virginia Wesleyan hosts and competes in annual VFIC Ethics Bowl, Feb. 13-14
By Leona Baker | February 3, 2011
(NOROLK/VIRGINIA BEACH) Eight Virginia Wesleyan College students are brushing up on the topic of “Ethics and Privacy” in preparation for the 12th annual statewide collegiate VFIC (Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges) Wachovia Ethics Bowl, to be held on the Wesleyan campus, February 13-14, 2011.
VWC students will utilize their debate skills to face off against other highly qualified teams from 14 independent colleges and universities across Virginia. Wesleyan team members this year include: Jordan Bondurant, Junior; Ryan Dulac, Senior; Ksera Dyette, Senior; John Maravich, Senior; Andrea Medrano, Junior; Senior; Ryan Paphites, Sophomore; John-Michael Sheehan, Junior; and Jacqueline Togno, Junior.
The Ethics Bowl was established by the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges as a means of engaging students with complex ethical dilemmas based on studies of individual ethics cases involving real-world dilemmas. Virginia Wesleyan College won the first annual VFIC Ethics Bowl in 2000, held on the campus of the University of Richmond. The last time VWC hosted the Ethics Bowl was 2005.
Many notables from the business sector, law, education, finance, journalism and other fields will listen to team presentations and offer reactions to the students’ presentations. Roger Mudd, author and former journalist for CBS and The History Channel, and Ken Garren, President of Lynchburg College, will serve as co-chairs.
According to Dr. Eric Mazur, faculty advisor for the VWC team, preparation is important, but adaptability is essential.
“I give the students a basic, crash course on the different ways of thinking about applied ethical problem solving, some basic background in the theme for each year, and some basic strategies of argumentation,” says Mazur. “For the most part, the team's success is based less on anything I can give them to be able to master the theme and more on their own abilities to solve problems, think on the fly, work as a team, and articulate their position clearly and consistently.”
Past teams have gained invaluable experience, he says, by approaching the event less as a competition and more as a learning venture and networking opportunity. It should also be fun, he emphasizes.
“It has been a pleasure and an honor to advise these students,” Mazur says. “They are among the best kinds of students to be found at VWC, but also, I think, very representative of their fellow classmates.”
This two-day event will commence with an opening session on Sunday, February 13 at 2:45 p.m. at Virginia Wesleyan College’s Jane. P. Batten Student Center, Pearce Hospitality Suite, with the first matches scheduled for 3:30 p.m. A special reception and dinner honoring Macon and Joan Brock of Dollar Tree, Inc. will follow Sunday’s two matches. With lead sponsorships from BAE Systems, Dollar Tree, Inc., GEICO and Norfolk Southern, this event will raise money for the Joan and Macon Brock Scholars Fund to benefit students from the Hampton Roads region attending VFIC member schools.
On Monday, February 14, rounds 3 and 4 will begin at 8:30 a.m. The final round of competition will take place at 11:30 a.m. in the Monumental Chapel. The public is invited to attend the match sessions free of charge. There is a cost for the reception and dinner Sunday evening. The winning team will be announced at 12:45 p.m. on Monday.
For additional information on the VFIC, visit www.vfic.org.