Catawba College News Service

RALEIGH — “Professional Responsibilities, Legal Liability, and Humane Treatment,” “Individual Rights vs. Community Standards” and “Corporate Ethics in International Contexts” are just a few of the possible topics that will be debated when teams from 22 private colleges participate in North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities’ Ethics Bowl on Friday and Saturday.

Catawba College is among the institutions participating in the annual event, to be held at the Legislative Complex in Raleigh.

“Student participants consistently extol the educational and professional development value of the Ethic Bowl,” said NCICU President Hope Williams. “Team members spend months researching and preparing to argue the ethical path forward on these issues.”

Teams will participate in three rounds of debate on Friday and one round on Saturday, followed by semifinal and final rounds. Eleven matches will be conducted simultaneously, each with three judges and one moderator.

Catawba’s team, coached by Assistant Professor of Politics Dr. Norris Feeney, includes these students who will be traveling to Raleigh for the event: Blake Brewer, Brianna Gordon, Sarah Bushey, Jonathan (Jon) Rife and Taylor Cielo. Other Catawba students who were involved in team preparations include Luca Picci, Sam Young and Gavin Wooten.

Feeney said that in addition to the regular weekly planning meetings during fall semester where the cases for this year’s event were discussed, the Catawba team spent Saturday, Feb. 11, practicing with Pfeiffer’s team, completing mock rounds and getting to know one another.

“Without the support of more than 70 volunteer judges and moderators and 34 sponsors the event would not be as successful,” said Williams. “Their interactions with the students provide unique networking opportunities.”

In addition to Catawba, other participating colleges are Barton College (last year’s champion), Campbell University, Chowan University, Gardner-Webb University, High Point University, Johnson C. Smith University, Livingstone College, Louisburg College, Mars Hill University, Meredith College, Methodist University, Montreat College, North Carolina Wesleyan College, Pfeiffer University, Queens University of Charlotte, St. Andrews University, Saint Augustine’s University, Salem College, University of Mount Olive, Wake Forest University and Wingate University.