(Cabrillo College Ethics Bowl Team members Ella Carroll (from left), Jane Tobias, Cameron Ellis, Liv Johansson and Connor DeGraff. Contributed photo)
APTOS — The Cabrillo College Ethics Bowl team in December became the only community college to qualify for the national championship in Chicago, beating the team from Stanford University and narrowly finishing behind Arizona State University.
Two months later, the team competed against 37 teams at the national Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl in Chicago, where the members missed qualifying for the semi-final match by only two points.
“This is a remarkable success, and we are again so proud of our Ethics Bowl team,” said Cabrillo Philosophy Instructor and Ethics Bowl Team Faculty Coach Claudia Close. “The success becomes even more remarkable when one notes that Cabrillo finished higher than both the team from Stanford and the West Point team, who won the National Championship last year.”
According to Cabrillo College spokeswoman Kristin Fabos, student ethics bowl teams research, analyze and construct arguments, defending their assessment of moral issues involved in current events.
Students must demonstrate that they have considered the facts of the case, can comprehend and articulate the underlying relevant ethical principles, defend their claims about how the case should be resolved, and answer challenges to their arguments put forward by the opposing side.
Success in the IEB requires strong analytical skills, intensive research, tight teamwork and the ability to think quickly, Fabos said.
Sponsored by the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics, the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl holds regional and national competitions involving hundreds of college and university students across North America.
Last year, Cabrillo’s Ethics Bowl team became the first community college team in the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl’s 21-year history to win a regional competition against four-year colleges and universities. Following that win, Cabrillo’s team advanced to the National competition in Dallas, Texas.
