The Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl (IEB) allows students from Central to debate contemporary social issues with students from other universities throughout North America. Each fall, the national organization distributes a number of cases involving such topics as economic justice, environmental responsibility, and political participation. Members of Central’s IEB team meet to discuss the cases, develop strategies, and have mock debates.

In November, the team travels to Seattle for the regional tournament, where we face off against teams from throughout the Northwest. The top two teams in the regional competition earn places in the national tournament held every year at the annual meeting of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics.

Ethics Bowl is great for students in any discipline. For more information about the Ethics Bowl, see the following website: http://appeonline.com/ethics-bowl/regional-ethics-bowl/.

For information about CWU’s team, contact the team’s coaches, Dr. Matt Altman (altmanm@cwu.edu) or Dr. Michael Goerger (goergerm@cwu.edu)

A Strong Showing from CWU at the Ethics Bowl

The members of “Moral Kombat,” Central’s Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl team (back row, l-r): Joe Ridgeway, Coach Matt Altman, Coach Michael Goerger, Chris Bertsch, Michael Hadfield, Tim Feth, Max Davis; (front) Dustin Waddle-Ford.

     Central’s Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl team worked hard for weeks to prepare for the regional tournament, researching and debating cases on the Racial Justice Act, graffiti and self-expression, drug legalization, and paid maternity leave, among other things. Along with coaches Dr. Matt Altman and Dr. Michael Goerger, the team attended the regional tournament on Saturday, November 17. They fought valiantly and thought deeply, and ended up with one win and a couple of heartbreaking losses.

    The regional competition was held at Seattle University this year, and the home team benefited from a little help from the judges. Despite an impressive performance from the CWU team, we lost to Seattle University in the first round by a close margin, 131-123. “We was robbed!” was heard from the spectators’ area as adults cried and kids spit bubblegum at the moderator.

     Our shining moment was in the second round, where we drew the 2012 national champions, Whitworth University, our dreaded rival. CWU’s team argued clearly and convincingly, but in the end Whitworth was just too strong. The three judges disagreed on the winner: two had Whitworth ahead and one had us on top. We lost by a few measly points, 139-136. CWU had an impressive performance, especially for a team with little experience in the Ethics Bowl. They lost by just three points to the best team in North America. It was a tough loss, but also a reason to be proud.
In the third round, we were fired up and ready to destroy anyone in our path — which we did. Washington State University was unlucky enough to face us, and we ended the day with a decisive win, 120-107. After the match, our team was the picture of grace in winning: we comforted the losers, who were dejected and muttering, “CWU is better than WSU. We know it. I think we’ve always know it. We just didn’t want to admit it.”

    All six of Central’s team members participated in the matches, and the work was divided evenly among them — which distinguished us from some of the other competitors. Everyone represented Central well, made intelligent arguments, and contributed to the discussions. If you missed the parade when we came home Saturday night, be sure to congratulate the following students: Chris Bertsch, Max Davis, Tim Feth, Michael Hadfield, Joe Ridgeway, and Dustin Waddle-Ford. We’ll build on this strong performance next year.

Past Ethics Bowls

• Ethics Bowl 2011
• IEB Ethics Bowl Fall 2010
• Ethics National Bowl 2010
• Ethics Bowl 2009
• Ethics Bowl 2008