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 late husband Frank Batten made a generous contribution of $300,000 to fund the Ethics Initiative for the first 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 Battens were honored at a dinner during the 2005 Ethics Bowl at Virginia Wesleyan College for their philanthropic gift. Annually, the Jane and Frank Batten Ethics Bowl Trophy is awarded to the VFIC Ethics Bowl Champion - engraved with the college's name.

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 retired journalist with The History Channel and author, and Dr. Phillip Stone, President of Bridgewater College, the task force recommended the colleges focus on two ethics initiatives:

1. An Ethics Bowl competition among the VFIC colleges where student teams will debate a variety of ethical and moral dilemmas.
2. Flexible campus-based programs at each VFIC college to enrich student focus and knowledge of applied ethics.

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.

Event Sponsors

“Signature Sponsor” since 2002:
Wells Fargo
(and through its predecessor Wachovia)

2011:
Wachovia Bank, BAE Systems, GEICO,
Dominion Resources, Dollar Tree and Norfolk Southern

2010:
Wachovia Wells Fargo Foundation, BAE Systems, GEICO, Dominion Resources and the Emily S. & Coleman A. Hunter Charitable Trust

2009:
Wachovia Foundation, GEICO, BAE Systems, Verizon, Dominion, and
Emily S. & Coleman A. Hunter Charitable Trust
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:
Emily Lowry, Program Administrator