UB Team Wins Area Ethics Bowl

November 17, 2009
Contact: University Relations
Phone: 410.837.5739

The University of Baltimore's undergraduate ethics team captured the 2009 Baltimore Area Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl on Nov. 7, besting teams from the College of Notre Dame, Towson University, the United States Naval Academy, UMBC and the University of Maryland, College Park in a regional competition that showcases analytical skills as they pertain to resolving a posed ethical dilemma. The event, hosted by UB's Hoffberger Center for Professional Ethics, was held in Fourier Hall at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland.

UB's team—junior Jeremy Hamman, senior Nicholas Huffman, senior Jamal Jackson, sophomore William Makell, senior Jesse Pulliam, junior Michael Remmert and senior Joshua Shumway, along with coach Joshua J. Kassner, assistant professor in the Division of Legal, Ethical and Historical Studies—competed in three sessions, with two concurrent matches in each session. They were asked to consider ethics cases involving topics such as sexting, Facebook, and obesity in airline travel. It was the second time in four years a UB team has brought home the title.

"We were pleased to add two new teams this year to the competition, College Park and Towson, and the quality of competition was the best we've seen yet," said Fred Guy, director of the center and associate professor in the Division of Legal, Ethical and Historical Studies. "The Baltimore Area Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl has now established itself as a fixture among our sister institutions. Next year we plan to add two more colleges to the mix. Hopefully, UB and the Hoffberger Center have created an event that will become an academic tradition in the Baltimore area for years to come."

The event does not offer a platform for debate between participants, but rather encourages teams to provide an effective analysis of the presented ethical problem; the winning team is judged on that analysis as well as the solution they propose. 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.

UB's team will travel to Richmond on Nov. 20 for the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl Mid-Atlantic Regional. If they are successful there, they will compete nationally in Cincinnati.

Find out more about the Nov. 7 competition.

The University of Baltimore is a member of the University System of Maryland and comprises the School of Law, the Yale Gordon College of Liberal Arts and the Merrick School of Business.