Oklahoma Christian University sent two ethics debate teams to the Oklahoma Statewide College Ethics Bowl last weekend and claimed first place for the tenth time in eleven years.
The Oklahoma Christian Eagles and the Aguilas placed first and second in the competition respectively. Though this event was not a qualifier, the students did earn $2500 to put towards travel expenses when they go to regionals.
Jeffery Simmons, Oklahoma Christian’s ethics bowl coach of 14 years, stated his expectations for the event.
“I always expect the teams to perform well because God has blessed OC with incredibly talented students. Plus, we’ve had a history of success,” Simmons said. “However, you never know because the competition seems to be getting better, and half our team this year is new to ethics debate, meaning this was their first competition.”
Simmons is in Vienna this fall semester, so he could not be physically present for practices or the bowl itself. Team member of three years, Sydney Byers, discussed what it was like missing their coach.
“Even though Jeff wasn’t there, and I was like, ‘Oh no, what are we gonna do? We don’t have our coach and our sponsor,’ it still worked out alright,” Byers said. “If we put in enough preparation and we do all of the proper steps, it’ll all work out.”
Having their coach overseas was not the only difficulty Oklahoma Christian faced. With so many new members, this event proved to be a new experience for a large portion of the team. New member Colton Boyd shared his experience competing in an ethics debate tournament for the first time.
“I feel like, during the competition, I found out more about what ethics debate was. I didn’t know exactly what it was, but as I competed, I gradually got more and more comfortable with it and how it works,” Boyd said. “It made me more confident in our ethics abilities. I was really nervous because all the teams have gone better this year, but it was fun.”
Emily Munson, another new member on the first place team, explained why she wanted to join the ethics group and the value it has.
“My best friend and roommate, Sydney, has been on the team the last two years. I always thought the debate topics she told me about sounded so interesting,” Munson said. “I knew this would also be good preparation for adult life as it teaches you valuable skills including communication tactics, mental flexibility and the ability to think on your toes. Additionally, it exposes you to real-world scenarios and dilemmas which are seldom encountered and thought through elsewhere.”
Munson’s favorite part about this event was interacting with other teams and watching all of their extensive preparation pay off:
“I loved the actual debates themselves,” Munson said. “Seeing our hard work put to action was so fulfilling. I felt unified with my team and was able to bond with other teams in between debate times. It really is more of a community having a conversation as opposed to two teams duking it out in a debate.”
New member Zach Wynn expressed his hopes for the rest of the season.
“We may have won state, but now it’s on to regionals. We are all locked in. Got our eyes on the prize. We’re gonna put in some hard work and hopefully get to Virginia for nationals next year,” Wynn said.
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