Members of the Student Ethics Debate Team are gearing up to argue today’s top issues this fall.
The team, which has attended nationals twice in the last three years, consists of seven students who will compete in a state competition Oct. 13 at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater.
The students then will attend a regional competition in November in San Antonio. If they place, they will go on to a national competition in December in Chicago.
Dr. James Guzak, business management professor and team adviser, said the team is important because morally conscious students are needed in the business world.
“I tell my students that we do a bad job with ethical decision making in the world of business,” he said.
Guzak said business gets bad publicity for its mistakes, sometimes more than what’s fair.
“Considering the reputation that business professionals have in that regard, anything we can do to advance ethics and practicing ethics in the business world, I think is very worthwhile,” he said.
The competitions consist of the students splitting into teams and debating positions against other schools on top ethical problems of today. The sample ethical issues this year include voting rights for felons, online privacy issues and fake news.
Guzak said he has seen students learn critical thinking skills, the ability to apply ethical frameworks and public speaking skills.
“It gives you a whole new sense of sensitivity to other people. I think it gives you a sense of duty, and responsibility, and doing things for the right reason rather than doing it for expediency’s purpose,” he said.
Hannah Cozart, acting sophomore and debate team member, said she enjoys the change of pace from her theater classes.
“It’s good to have a different outlet that’s a little more intellectual,” she said.
Cozart said she learns a lot from talking to people that she disagrees with about current events.
“It’s really cool to be able to get down to the core issues of subjects and to be able to talk about what makes things right or wrong,” she said. “Because lots of people don’t take the time to slow down and think about that, they just go through their lives without stopping to think why that is.”
Guzak said the only requirement to join the ethics debate team is to be an undergraduate at the university. Interested students can email him at jrguzak@okcu.edu.
Leave a Reply