Ethics students from Oklahoma Christian University have ranked above colleges like Stanford and Yale—a major accomplishment for a private Christian school with around 2,000 undergraduate students.
One of Oklahoma Christian’s ethics teams finished as a semifinalist at the Association For Practical And Professional Ethics Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl in Atlanta, GA, on Feb. 22-24.
The team, consisting of Jackson High, Brendan McKinley and Ruger Stocking, finished third among 36 colleges from across the country. Students from Youngstown University claimed the top award, followed by students from Tufts University as runners-up.
Jeff Simmons, dean of the College of Business Administration, coaches the team.
In previous years, the Oklahoma Christian team finished in top spots at ethics bowls, achieving third place at nationals in 2019 and winning several first-place finishes at state and regional competitions.
High, a junior finance major, discussed the ethics team and their recent competition in an interview with the Talon.
How did the team make it to the finals?
There are three levels of competition: state, regional and national tournaments. Every year, we start by competing in the state tournament, which we did in October. One of our teams placed first and the other placed third. Because of that, we advanced to the regional competition in San Antonio in November, which we won, so we moved on to nationals.
What was the structure of the competition?
Every season, we are provided with a certain number of cases for the competition. This year for nationals, there were 17 cases. We debate on those in a panel-based discussion. Each team sits across from another team, and it is discussion-based.
In traditional debate, there is a fairly adversarial concept to it. One team has to win, and the other has to defend their position. In ethics debate, it’s a discussion. No one position has to be proven right or wrong; it is simply about the support and discussion that goes on between the two teams.
Why do you believe the OC team consistently places so well?
One of the biggest reasons is Jeff Simmons. He has been a great lead for us and provides a great example and structure we are able to follow really well. We do a lot of preparation: Tuesday and Thursday mornings we get up and go to practice at 6 a.m. That gives us an edge on the competition because I don’t think any other school prepares in the same fashion or to the same length as we do.
What case especially interested you during the competition?
One of the most interesting cases we got this year was that of the issue of reparations for African-Americans, descendants of slaves in the United States. It put together three different conflicts within an ethical framework: the political and legal standpoint, the ethical standpoint and the practical application—is this something that can really be done? Is this something necessary in this political climate? It provided a really valuable discussion.
Why did you join the team?
I did debate in high school and really enjoyed it. I knew a couple of people who had been on the team previously and received some great recommendations, and I knew the team did really well.
What have you learned from your time on the team?
Going back to the debate I did in high school, being really adversarial, this team has opened up my mindset to the point where I can have a really productive discussion without it being aggressive.
0
0
Be First to Comment