Ethics Bowl Regional Champs

This past weekend the Taylor Ethics Bowl team, which I coach, won the Central States Regional championship.  This is our students’ second regional championship in the last three years.  And all three teams that we entered finished in the top four (1st, 2nd, and 4th) out of a total of twenty teams.

The other schools that competed included Belmont University, Butler University, DePauw University, Eastern Kentucky University, Indiana University, Xavier College, Wright State University, University of Southern Indiana, Marian University, Illinois Wesleyan Universiby, St. Olaf College, and the College of Mount St. Joseph.  The cases debated in the competition, as always, covered a broad range of issues.  This year the issues were drug legalization, gay conversion therapy, the ethics of “street art,” racial bias in death penalty rulings, the justice of a student loan forgiveness act, and the ethics of medical experimentation on animals.

At regionals, the top four teams qualify for the national tournament in San Antonio, Texas, which will take place on February 28, 2013.  So, technically, all three of our teams qualified.  But since we can only send one team (with a maximum of 5 students) to nationals, we’ll have to select that team from among our twelve E-Bowlers who competed this past weekend.

It’s gratifying to coach such a talented bunch of students, and I’m excited about getting them prepared for the national competition.