Ethics Bowl team earns spot at nationals

The University of North Georgia (UNG) Ethics Bowl team will head to Portland, Oregon, in March for the 2023 national competition after a second-place finish in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl. It marks UNG's first Ethics Bowl national appearance since 2015.

UNG hosted the regional event Nov. 12, beating out schools including the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, Georgia State University, Virginia Tech, Virginia Military Institute (VMI), and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the 18-team event. Regional winner University of Mississippi, UNG, third-place University of Lynchburg, and fourth-place VMI earned the right to advance to nationals, where 36 universities and colleges out of the almost 180 who competed in regionals across the country will come together on the national cases.

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl was a one-day, multi-institutional collegiate competition held in partnership with the Association of Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE). UNG has participated in the event since 2013 and has hosted it since 2017 on the Gainesville Campus.

Part of the UNG mission is to develop our students for a global society and I think the Ethics Bowl helps prepare them for that level of leadership.

Dr. Rose Procter

director of the TRUIST Center for Ethical Leadership and co-coach for the Ethics Bowl team

"Part of the UNG mission is to develop our students for a global society and I think the Ethics Bowl helps prepare them for that level of leadership." 

Dr. James Grindeland, lecturer of philosophy at UNG, is also a coach for the UNG Ethics Bowl team.

Cantrell, Crotzer, Cunningham, and Flores will not be going to Portland as they will have graduated in December. Replacements are currently being recruited, Procter said.

"No one on our team had competed in the Ethics Bowl previously, which was a little intimidating considering most of the other teams were stacked with repeat competitors," Jessica Kagansky, a junior from Dacula, Georgia, pursuing a degree in interdisciplinary studies, said. "The preparation for the competition was intensive, and the event itself was stressful but exhilarating. In the end, we were very proud of our performance and how we had represented our university."

Yarman, a sophomore from Monroe, Georgia, pursuing a degree in finance, attributed the team's success to the dialogue among members through which the group would determine the best possible way to present its argument.

Of the six University System of Georgia (USG) institutions competing in the Mid-Atlantic Regional, UNG was the top finisher.

"We're the only USG school that continues from our regional. We're really proud of that," Procter said.

Mike Cottrell College of Business faculty members Dr. Wendy Walker and Dr. Ash Mady supported the Ethics Bowl as judges all day, and in the final round Dr. Nathan Wood of Central Piedmont Community College joined them as a judge. There were several UNG faculty, staff and administrators engaged throughout the competition, including Jim Crupi of the UNG Board of Trustees. Charlotte Wade and Brooke Smith of the UNG Office of Compliance served as integrity partners, handling scoring and case preparation for the competition alongside the national APPE office.