Four students from Marymount University participated in the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges’ (VFIC) 24th annual statewide collegiate Ethics Bowl during the final weekend of January, deliberating on “Ethics and the Environment” on the campus of Hollins University in Roanoke, Va.
The Marymount team – featuring seniors Natalia Ivanauskas and Agnes-Laure Signou and juniors Ella Reither and Elliot Salguero – competed head-to-head against other student teams from Virginia’s leading independent colleges and universities on a variety of case studies. The Saints were led by faculty coordinator Dr. Brian Hollar, Associate Professor of Economics, and Dr. Carl Sachs, Associate Professor of Philosophy.
Many notable individuals from a variety of career fields that include business, education, finance, journalism, law and others listened to team presentations and offered reactions to the students’ presentations. Marymount faced off against other teams in four matches over the course of two days, winning three of those debates.
“I am extremely proud of our Marymount students as they did exceptionally well in the debates, and smiled the most of any team I saw participating!” Dr. Hollar said. “The debates consisted of a sample scenario that challenged the teams with an ethical issue related to the environment. In most of the scenarios, there were competing interests without a clear answer. Teams had to decide on a stance in the debate and defend their perspective to the judges and against questions from their competing team.”
“To prepare, Dr. Sachs and I met with the students on multiple occasions and used mock scenarios we created with ChatGPT to help the students prepare. Dr. Sachs and I would then give students feedback on their positions and how to improve their arguments.”
“Competing now for a second time with the same team was a great experience,” Reither explained. “We were able to build off of one another smoothly, and we all recognized each other’s strengths and used them to the advantage of the team. We not only improved our scores from the last year, but we genuinely enjoyed each other’s company during the train ride to Roanoke, spending time at Hollins University and during all of the competitions.”
“Team chemistry was great and very crucial to our performance this year,” Signou added. “Having worked with each other on the team in last year’s Ethics Bowl, it made the second time around even more enjoyable. We came together as a team and performed really well, and I couldn’t have asked for a better team and experience.”
The Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges, established in 1952, aims to advance the distinctive values and strengths of the 17 colleges and universities across Virginia that make up its consortium.
