After a second-place finish at the Northeast Regional Ethics Bowl on Nov. 20, the team moved on to the national competition, where the team was eliminated before qualifying for the final round. Dartmouth placed 10th in last year's national competition, which is sponsored by the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics.
The University of Central Florida won this year's national competition, but other results have not yet been posted, Ethics Bowl president Jon Choi '11 said.
The national competition was held on the first day of the Association's, Donovan said. The competition helps foster "a true love of ethics at its most fundamental core" in students, Donovan said. Debating the ethical implications of topical issues also introduces students to ethics as an academic discipline, she said.
The team competes in debate-style competitions after preparing responses for 15 scenarios, according to Donovan. The judges typically philosophy professors evaluate the team on how well team members support their argument, she said.
"There are no easy answers to really thorny questions," Donovan, who has coached the team for nine years, said. "If there was an easy answer, we all would have arrived at it."
During the first round of the national competition, the team was presented with issues related to academic integrity, according to Connie Shang '13, who attended the national competition for the first time this year.
Donovan said she enjoys watching the students "really, really struggle" with determining "the right thing to do," but tries to help students recognize the principles behind their decision-making, she said.
"It's teaching at its purest essence," Donovan said.
Students do not receive financial compensation or course credit for their participation in the Ethics Bowl team, according to Donovan. The team is funded largely by support from the Council on Student Organizations, and Donovan said she carefully allocates the budget in order to send students to the national competition. Team members select who among their teammates will attend the national competition, Donovan said.
"It's a really nice thing to witness, to see how much they care for each other's feelings," she said. "It's really civility at its very best."
Choi has attended two national competitions and said he has enjoyed watching his teammates develop and improve.
"I think the caliber of competitions is always increasing, and people are getting better and better," Choi said. "I think our team is getting better, too."
This year was the first time that many of the members participated in the Ethics Bowl at the national level, Choi said.
"We learned a lot," he said. "It sets us up to do really well next year."
Erich Hartfelder '12, Muhammad Zain-Ul-Abideen '12, Brendan Mooney '14 and Mimi Rich '12, who also attended this year's national competition, did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
