UB Hosts 10th Annual Community College Ethics Bowl, April 14
Ten Teams Participate in One of Country's Longest-Running Ethics Competitions
April 4, 2012
Contact: University Relations
Phone: 410.837.5739
The University of Baltimore's Hoffberger Center for Professional Ethics will host its 10th annual Community College Ethics Bowl on Saturday, April 14 beginning at 8:30 a.m. in the William H. Thumel Sr. Business Center, 11 W. Mt. Royal Ave., home of the Merrick School of Business on the UB campus. The day-long event is one of the longest-running collegiate-level ethics competitions in the country, and has provided an opportunity for hundreds of Maryland community college students to hone their analytical and critical-thinking skills in a team environment. Participating teams from the following institutions are slated to appear:
- Baltimore City Community College
- Catonsville Campus of the Community College of Baltimore County
- Essex Campus of the Community College of Baltimore County
- Howard Community College
- Anne Arundel Community College
- Carroll Community College
- Harrisburg Area Community College
- Rockville Campus of Montgomery College
- Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus of Montgomery College (two teams)
"We are proud to be hosting the 10th annual gathering of these teams at the Community College Ethics Bowl," said Fred Guy, director of the Hoffberger Center. "By our count, more than 300 students have participated in this event over the years. Many have gone on to four-year institutions and graduate and professional schools, and have carried with them the experiences they gained from the Ethics Bowl’s intellectual exchange and teamwork."
Guy noted that the first four institutions named in the aforementioned list have participated in the competition from its inception.
"Obviously the professors and the leadership of these campuses have found a real value in bringing their students to the competition," he said. "We plan to build on that in the years ahead."
Each institution will field a team of three to five undergraduates who will compete in a series of three sessions with two concurrent matches in each session. The Ethics Bowl is not a debate, but rather a competition to determine which team can analyze an ethical case most effectively and pose the best solution to the presented ethical problems. Each match consists of a moderator, who asks an opening question to the teams, and three judges who ask follow-up questions. Teams are judged on how clear, thoughtful and systematic they are in answering questions from judges, and in pointing out weaknesses in the opposing team's case analysis. Judges are selected to provide a wide range of backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.
The Hoffberger Center's success with the Community College Ethics Bowl led it to initiate an Ethics Bowl for area four-year institutions a few years ago. Last fall, it hosted the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Ethics Bowl, UB's largest gathering yet for the competition. That event was a feeder for the national Ethics Bowl, held last spring in Cincinnati.
For more information about the Community College Ethics Bowl, contact the Hoffberger Center at 410.837.5379.
The University of Baltimore is a member of the University System of Maryland and comprises the School of Law, the Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Public Affairs and the Merrick School of Business.