Richmond team wins Ethics Bowl

A team of students from the University of Richmond won the 2007 Ethics Bowl sponsored by the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges.

The annual two-day bowl pits teams from the 15 VFIC colleges in a competition arguing positions on hypothetical issues. This year teams debated ethical medical dilemmas.

“Every team that participated was impressive,” said Tim Duffee, team coach and adjunct professor in the University’s School of Continuing Studies. “It was a perfect venue to display to civic and business leaders throughout the region the caliber of individual, both in character and intellect, being produced by the foundation’s member schools.”

Richmond’s team won the competition following a final round debate against runner-up Mary Baldwin College. Nearly 50 business and community leaders from throughout Virginia critiqued team arguments. Retired journalist Roger Mudd also was a judge.

“I couldn’t be more proud of our team,” said Duffee. He said their ability to think under pressure and apply practical, morally sound decisions to some very complex ethical issues “was unparalleled. They proved to be champions in every sense of the word.”

Richmond team members included Erin O’Leary, a senior from Littleton, Mass., Kathryn Sigismund, a senior from Grand Junction, Colo., M.K. Tantum, a senior from Knoxville, Tenn., and Evan Zaletel, a senior from Westlake, Ohio.

Founded in 1952, the VFIC is a nonprofit fund-raising partnership supporting programs and students of 15 leading private colleges in Virginia.