Millikin finishes in 3rd place at Upper Midwest Regional Ethics Bowl Competition
The Millikin University Ethics Bowl team finished in 3rd place at the Upper Midwest Regional Ethics Bowl Competition, hosted by the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, on Nov. 17. One of Millikin's two teams finished undefeated and earned a seat at the National Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl Competition in Baltimore, Md., on March 2-3, 2019. This is Millikin's third trip to Nationals in the last five years (2014, 2016 and 2018).
Millikin finished just behind the University of Wisconsin – Madison and Grand Valley State University in overall points, but finished ahead of other institutions such as Northwestern University, Oakland University, Illinois Wesleyan University and Loyola University Chicago. In addition to the 3rd place team, Millikin's other team did an exceptional job considering that no students on the team had competed previously.
Members of the 3rd place team include Madison Burress, a senior psychology major from Marseilles, Ill., Alexander Erickson, a senior music business major from Waterford, Wis.; Emily Cotner, a senior music business major from Sherman, Ill., and Lukas Myers, a senior philosophy major from Taylorville, Ill.
Myers believes that his experiences at Millikin had greatly prepared him and the team for the competition. "As a team we meet about twice a week for arguments in class. We repeatedly go over and attack our own positions to strengthen them from counterpoints. Individually, I read the cases and try to consider the best approach to each round and the best moral theory to use in a given case," he said.
Myers noted, "Millikin's philosophy department has greatly strengthened my ability as an arguer and a reasoner. I spend most of my time defending or criticizing my own positions, this scholastic experience has made me the most prepared it possibly could for this opportunity."
The Upper Midwest Regional Ethics Bowl gives students a chance to enter an academic competition that provides a valuable experience in the areas of practical and professional ethics. Millikin competed against 29 other teams from 20 schools across the Midwest, answering questions from a panel of judges about a collection of cases the students have been discussing since the beginning of the semester.
Hundreds of students and teams across the United States and Canada compete in 11 Regional Ethics competitions each fall. The teams argue and defend their moral assessment of some of the most troubling and complex ethical issues facing society today. The competition focuses on selected cases developed by Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE) faculty, researchers and professionals. The teams compete for a chance to move on to the National Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl.
There were eight total cases represented in the debates during the Upper Midwest Regional Ethics Bowl. Myers said cases this year included: Should We Keep Kosher? A case on governmental intervention, animal welfare, and religious rights; The 100-plus Year Life, a case on the duties of eldercare in an aging society; Rachel Identity Disorder, a case on the issues surrounding transracial identities; Poverty in Paradise, the ethical implications of foreign aid and tax haven countries; and It's Personal, a death penalty ethics case, with a special consideration for the role of the impacted on the sentencing.
Myers says the team was split into areas of specialization. Each team member had a different and important role in moral theories, construction of arguments, commentary and counterarguments. "We all speak throughout the presentation, filling in relevant details where we can. The structure is not very rigid as we try to make the presentation, and competition on the whole, conversational," said Myers.
Myers added, "I am ecstatic with my role and that I was able to contribute (however much) to the success of my team. I am very excited for Nationals."