As exhibited in their most recent performance at nationals, Taylor’s Ethics Bowl team consistently performs at a level comparable to some of the biggest universities in the country.
In the 2022 national competition, the Ethics Bowl team ranked 11 out of 36 teams from around the country, and brought home a notable victory over Ivy League school Yale University.
“I think the team would generally agree that of the four teams we faced at Nats, Yale had the best dialogue and was the most courteous team we faced,” senior co-captain Jared Smith said. “Their team was more classically-oriented and was very friendly and professional. Facing Yale was an encouragement that many teams take the character and professionalism of this competition as seriously as our team does.”
This year’s team is coached by Visiting Professor of Philosophy and Religion Koert Verhagen. Seniors Smith and Elizabeth Hammond and Stephen White (‘21) led the team as co-captains.
In this competition, the three captains as well as Grace Christodoss (‘21), senior James Brads and sophomore Peter Schwarck participated in the virtual debates over the ethics of military AI useI, gene editing, the use of fireworks, the Doomsday Clock, NFTs, space exploration by billionaires and limitations in scientific testing with live animals.
They initially didn’t score high enough in the Regional competition to compete at Nationals; however, another school dropped out of the competition in January and allowed Taylor’s Ethics Bowl team to participate, despite being weeks behind in preparation.
With a quick turnaround between learning of their bid at Nationals and participating in the virtual event on Feb. 24, other team members including seniors Hollie Meyers, Bailey Spiegel, Sarah Malak, Abbey Suess, Caroline Gilmer and Teagan Bakker, juniors Elise Wixtrom and Lydia McGinness and sophomores Alexandra Zazzo, Josh Brown and Sebastian Anderson were instrumental in the preparation.
Hammond said the team had a month less than other teams to prepare debates on 17 topics. To catch up, they met twice a week, had Saturday morning practices and made consistent Zoom calls with their senior team members who had graduated at the semester.
During the competition, the six members of the team who competed did so virtually from a Euler conference room while Verhagen and the other team members watched from across the hall.
“We could hear them cheering through the walls when the scores were announced and they were all incredibly encouraging after each round,” Hammond said.
As a senior, Hammond is thankful for the years she has spent on the team and the relationships she has formed because of them.
Not only has she grown in her perception of ethics, but also in her ability to mesh ethical decision making and Christian faith.
Hammond and Smith said that the team is composed of a variety of worldviews, understandings and majors but they work together to create productive dialogue.
“While many of (the) members of our club are philosophy and PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics), we always appreciate the contributions of other majors and people with no speaking or philosophy interest,” Smith said. “We are all here to grow! Ethics bowl involves a fascinating integration of moral theories, faith, and other academic disciplines which has been one of the most formative experiences in my and some of my colleagues' time at Taylor.”
