Ethics team wins regional competition

The Eagles Ethics Team claimed the first-place trophy in the Texas Regional Ethics Bowl at Saint Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas on Saturday.

The Oklahoma Christian University’s ethics team consisted of six students who were split into two teams. The Eagles consisted of sophomore Sean Vandyke, freshman Tyler Clark and junior Gabriel Gasiorowski. The Aguilas (“Eagles” in Spanish) consisted of freshman Hannah Lane, senior Jasper Bawcom and senior Michael Nsengiyumva.

Bawcom said one of the most interesting things about these debates is that teams don’t actually have to disagree with their opponent – it’s more about engaging in dialogue.

“It takes a lot of practice and an open mind,” Bawcom said.

Each team went through a total of six debates in three rounds, debating about two cultural issues each. The topics included discussion over how to dispose of a corpse in an ethologically safe way, the ethical implications for museums to buy artifacts that have been looted and whether or not orphaned Native American children should be put up for adoption within or outside of their tribe.

“Our basic approach to analyzing moral dilemmas always involves implying certain ethical philosophies or ethical theories,” Vandyke said.

Competing against 20 other teams, the Eagles team was one of two teams to win all three of their debate rounds. They were announced the winners of the regional competition at the awards ceremony, and they will be moving on to Nationals next semester.

“Winning is fun but probably more fun is really getting to know the other debaters,” Lane said.

Preparation before the competition included meeting twice a week, according to Bawcom.

“It’s very rhetorical, very discussion-based,” Bawcom said. This was his third competition and he credits the team’s past success to their coach, Dean for the College of Business Administration Jeff Simmons.

“It’s a really great activity and if anyone wants to look into it they should, because it’s incredibly beneficial intellectually and as a person I feel like I’ve learned a lot,” Lane said.

00