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-- THE PAST --
Ethics Bowl History, Task Force, and Event Sponsors
In June of 1999, VFIC Honorary-Life Trustee and Ethics
Task Force member, Jane Parke Batten and her husband Frank Batten made a
generous contribution of $300,000 to fund this initiatives for three
years. In the fall of 1999,
faculty at each of the 15 VFIC colleges began implementing campus programs and
organizing teams for the VFIC Ethics Bowl.
The study and debate of applied ethics has long been a hallmark of VFIC’s 15 colleges and universities. In an effort to facilitate collaboration between our campuses, an Ethics Task Force was created in 1997 to identify programmatic opportunities. Co-chaired by Roger Mudd, VFIC trustee and History Channel journalist, and Phillip Stone, President of Bridgewater College, the task force recommended the colleges focus on two ethics initiatives:
VFIC Ethics Initiative
Campus Based Ethics Initiatives in 2000, each VFIC college received $4,000 for campus-based programs to raise the level of awareness and discourse among students about applied ethics. Faculty used funds to sponsor a variety of initiatives, including guest lectures, campus workshops, and other special events. Faculty members brought challenging and timely ethical dilemmas to the forefront of their campuses, addressing such issues as bio-ethics, environmental ethics, business ethics, and the role of personal ethics in society.
Ethics Bowl The Ethics Bowl program is designed to engage students with complex ethical dilemmas based on studies of individual cases. Faculty coordinators from each member college conduct a series of on-campus debates to assemble the team that will represent their institution at the statewide competition.
The Ethics Bowl is an exciting and unique opportunity for students and faculty to interact with business and community leaders in way that showcases the talents of VFIC students, but also exposes them to the realities of the world of business, law, medicine, and government. Business and community leaders, acting as judges for the team matches, are able to question students about their positions on cases.
Looking Ahead The VFIC ethics initiatives have been quite successful in raising the level of discourse and awareness about ethics on VFIC member campuses. In particular, the Ethics Bowl has been a unique opportunity for faculty, students, and business and community leaders to interact on a variety of compelling case studies. Many of VFIC’s counterpart organizations in other states have expressed an interest starting an ethics bowl program with their colleges. It is hoped that VFIC will soon sponsor teams to participate in regional events with dozens of independent colleges from other states.
Past Ethics Bowl Sponsors
Wachovia Bank has served as the “Signature Sponsor” since 2002
2008: Wachovia Bank, GEICO, BAE Systems, Dominion, Emily S. & Coleman A. Hunter Charitable Trust, and Emerson G. & Delores G. Reinsch Foundation 2007: Wachovia Bank, GEICO, BAE Systems, Dominion, Ernst & Young, West*Group and Emily S. & Coleman A. Hunter Charitable Trust 2006: Wachovia Bank, GEICO, BAE Systems, Dominion, Jenzabar and Emily S. & Coleman A. Hunter Charitable Trust 2005: Wachovia Bank, GEICO, BAE Systems and Dominion 2004: Wachovia Bank, GEICO 2003: Wachovia Bank, GEICO, Lee Technologies, John & Carolyn Snow 2002: Wachovia Bank 2001: America Online 1999-2002: The Batten Foundation
Questions? Contact Jenni Booker, Director of Programs and Communication
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