Ethics Bowl at Marylhurst
Marylhurst Messenger
January, 2009

By Jonnie Martin

Four Marylhurst students will represent our school in the fourth Annual Ethics Bowl sponsored by the Oregon Independent School Foundation (OICF) on Saturday, February 28, to be held on the Marylhurst Campus.

This year’s Marylhurst team consists of a returning debater, Adam Taylor, who is a Senior CHS/ELW student; Paula Wentworth, a Senior Interdisciplinary student with emphasis on Business Administration, Media and Film Studies; Thomas Wolfe, a CHS Junior; and Abdulrahim Ossama Audi, a Senior CHS major with Creative Writing minor.

On the 28th, the Marylhurst team will face students from nine other private universities in Portland, debating real ethical issues that face business people and citizens.  Past subjects have included journalist confidentiality, web site privacy, reproductive rights, the war in Iraq, and environmental issues.

Teams are given eight ethical cases to study prior to competition on the 28th.  The Marylhurst team has eight weeks to prepare, coached by senior advisor David Denny, Chair of the Cultural and Historical Studies Department, and by Mike Randolph, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies with a specialty in Rhetoric, as well as alumna Meredith Olson, who competed on the 2006 Marylhurst team and graduated with a CHS degree in 2007.  

In the first three years of Ethics Bowl competition, Marylhurst has done well, twice winning Second Place among the ten teams.  Their goal this year is to again win one of the top titles.

Maryhurst University students and faculty, and the public at large, are invited to observe the matches scheduled at Marylhurst University on February 28.  Students and guests will gather between 8:30 and 8:45 am in the Commons, where debate schedules will be made available.  Pairs of teams will be then be assigned to debate rooms scattered throughout B.P. Johns.

Judges from the business community will score each match.  By afternoon, the teams will have debated eight cases, six on prepared topics and two from a surprise round.  The remaining two cases will provide the content for the final match between the top two scoring teams.  That final match is scheduled in The Commons at 3:30 pm, followed by a recognition of the First and Second Place winning schools.

OICF also holds a gala fundraiser the night before the Ethics Bowl, to publicize the event, and to raise funds for scholarships and other support for the ten private universities.   Participants in the debates and beneficiaries of OICF support are: Concordia University, George Fox University, Lewis & Clark College, Linfield College, Marylhurst University, Pacific University, Reed College, University of Portland, Warner Pacific College, and Willamette University.