Think responsibly and act ethically in your personal and professional life.
The UB Ethics Bowl team made it to the quarter finals at the 2020 Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl National Competition, held Feb 22-23 in Atlanta, GA. Of the thirty-six teams who competed from all over the country, the UB team finished in the top eight. They won four straight matches before losing in a very close round. However, the team ranked number one overall in terms of most points, most wins (4) and fewest losses (0), outranking teams like Stanford University, Tufts University and the U.S. Naval Academy. The UB team comprises Daniel Gellasch (captain), Jayla-Rae Foster, Hugh Norko and J.C. Loyd, and Fred Guy, director of the University’s Hoffberger Center for Professional Ethics, serves as team coordinator.
About the Center
Through a wide range of programs and activities—seminars, ethics bowls, student positions and scholarships—the Hoffberger Center for Professional Ethics encourages you to think responsibly about the kinds of moral dilemmas and choices you face as a professional and as a global citizen.
Since 1987, we have provided faculty with teaching models, and we sponsor faculty research, student internships and public programs in business and professional ethics. We welcome speakers from all over the world to discuss moral, ethical, and philosophical issues in various facets of life. We have hosted discussions in fields ranging from business to art. We also encourage students to continue thinking about the ideas introduced in the classroom to other aspects of life by sponsoring the student organization Philosophy Club.
The Hoffberger Center has grown and prospered because of the continued interest and support of our friends in the academic, business and professional communities. By inviting our colleagues from community colleges, corporations and the professions to participate in the Hoffberger Center programs and activities, we are learning a great deal about the kinds of ethical issues and problems that arise in business and the professions, and we are sharing these insights with our University faculty and students.
In return, the Hoffberger Center has been able to offer guidance in developing ethical awareness, ethical decision-making, and codes of ethics to our friends outside the University of Baltimore. Together we have discovered that for any discussion of ethics to be of lasting value it must combine well the practical with the theoretical.
On Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020, the Hoffberger Center for Professional Ethics hosted the Maryland High School Ethics Bowl. The winning team was Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, who edged out last year's winning team, Gerstell Academy, by just one point. Seventy-six high school students participated in the bowl, and over fifty parents, family members and friends were in the audience. UB faculty and Hoffberger Center advisory board members served as judges and moderators for the bowl.
On Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019, the Hoffberger Center for Professional Ethics hosted the fifth annual Maryland High School Ethics Bowl. Eight teams from six area schools competed, including: Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, Gerstell Academy, Liberty High School, Mercy High School, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and Sparrows Point High. This year’s winning team was Gerstell Academy (pictured), for the second year in a row.