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VWU’s 2025 Ethics Bowl Team Prepares for Statewide Competition
Students from 17 VFIC colleges and universities to deliberate on Ethics and Artificial Intelligence in February
University News | November 25, 2024
Virginia Wesleyan University’s 2025 Ethics Bowl Team will compete in the 25th annual statewide collegiate Applied Ethics Bowl sponsored by the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges (VFIC) on February 7, 2025, to be hosted on the campus of the University of Richmond.
VWU’s team has been preparing to compete head-to-head against 16 other highly-qualified student teams from Virginia’s leading independent colleges and universities, deliberating a variety of case studies and real-world dilemmas relating to this year’s Ethics Bowl topic, “Ethics and Artificial Intelligence.”
The 2025 Virginia Wesleyan University student team includes Casey Bennett ‘25, Christian Palmisano ‘25, Abigail Villacrusis ‘25, Andrew Steiner ’26, and Avery Belisle ‘27 (alternate), who will travel to the University of Richmond in February to represent VWU and compete in the statewide event. Elena Lichtenwalner ’26, Kaylee Grimstead ’26, and Anna Greenleaf ’26 have also been preparing for the event, meeting with the team to argue practice cases with faculty coordinator and Professor of Media and Communication Dr. Kathy Merlock Jackson. Merlock Jackson, who first began advising students for Ethics Bowl deliberations in 2012, has been assisted in preparing the students by local attorney Hank Howell.
“We have a very experienced, strong team,” noted Merlock Jackson. “We have eight students practicing each week, which is a large number, and we’ve been able to have two teams for practices all semester.”
She says that Howell joins them regularly, providing invaluable insights into the practice cases and critiquing the students’ presentations.
“I enjoy working with this amazing, dedicated group of students and thinking about ethical issues of importance,” says Merlock Jackson. “Each student brings something different to the table. It is fulfilling to watch students grapple with questions that have no easy answers and try to do the right thing.” She adds that as a professor of media and communication, “I am especially interested in ways Artificial Intelligence is changing every segment of modern society and the ethical questions surrounding this profound transformation.”
A part of the team's preparation for the statewide competition includes an event hosted on campus by The Robert Nusbaum Center in The Lighthouse: Center for Exploration and Discovery in Clarke Hall. On February 4 at 7 p.m., members of the campus community are invited to gather for a debate demonstration prior to team's competion in Richmond.
During the VFIC statewide event, business and community professionals serve as judges and moderators. Many notable individuals from a variety of career fields including business, law, education, finance, journalism, and others will listen to team presentations and offer reactions.
The competition, renamed this year as the VFIC Applied Ethics Bowl, also has a new format.Teams will receive the cases for each round in November to allow for advance preparation and shorter rounds, and the judges’ question has been replaced by a second question by the opposing team. In a one-day event on Friday, February 7, the first round will begin at 11 a.m., followed by a networking lunch, three more rounds, and a reception. The team with the most points in each division will then compete in the final lightning round. The winning team will be announced in the early evening.
Virginia Wesleyan University's 2020 Ethics Bowl team, comprised of Alex Powers ‘21, Anitra Howard ‘22, and Criofan Shaw ‘23, took home the Batten Trophy when they won the Ethics Bowl. Deliberating the topic, “Ethics and Higher Education,” the 2020 team edged out Hampden-Sydney College in the final round to win the Batten Trophy for the second time in the event’s history.
Virginia Wesleyan also won the very first VFIC Ethics Bowl in 2000, deliberating the topic of “Ethics and Society.” The VWU team was awarded runner-up in 2014, deliberating on the topic of “Ethics and Health Care,” and again earned runner-up in 2019 on the topic of “Ethics and Social Justice.”
The VFIC Ethics Bowl program was first conceptualized in 1997 by the VFIC Ethics Task Force, co-chaired by prominent journalist and former VFIC Trustee Roger Mudd, and Phillip Stone, former president of Bridgewater and Sweet Briar Colleges. The mission of the task force was to explore opportunities to involve students at VFIC colleges in the lively debate and consideration of applied ethics—real world dilemmas that affect people's lives in increasingly complex ways.
Founded in 1952, the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges is a nonprofit consortium supporting the programs and students of 17 leading independent colleges in the Commonwealth: Virginia Wesleyan University, Bridgewater College, Emory & Henry College, Hampden-Sydney College, Hollins University, Hampton University, Mary Baldwin University, Marymount University, Randolph College, Randolph-Macon College, Roanoke College, Shenandoah University, Sweet Briar College, University of Lynchburg, University of Richmond, Virginia Union University, and Washington and Lee University.
Learn more about the VFIC Ethics Program.