EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was originally published with the incorrect contact information for the organization.
The OCU Ethics and Debate team took third place in the Virtual Region Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl. This placement has won the team a qualification bid for the national championship in February.
The regional competition consisted of ten university teams. The OCU team placed just behind Harvard and the University of Chicago.
Among the members who competed in the competition are sophomore Sophia Smith, freshman Henry Parks, and junior Raven Wade. The team was coached by Justin Wareham, Assistant Professor of Management.
The team spent a long time preparing for each debate.
“We thought the best strategy was to become well versed enough in the issues to have a conversation about them, rather than preparing a formal presentation,” said Parks.
Smith said that although the team was prepared for the competition, they “weren’t necessarily expecting much.” According to Smith, it was a challenge for the team to prepare for the debate while managing studies.
The competing teams had a few major disadvantages. Firstly, none of the members of the OCU team had participated in an ethical debate competition before. The second was the small size of the OCU team. Each member of the OCU team had to prepare for more debates than their peers on opposing teams.
“It was also intimidating competing against bigger and well-known schools like Harvard and Boston University,” Smith said.
The team was given 15 cases to prepare for, six of which were debated in the competition. The team had to take a side on each case and build an argument. They were required to build the foundation of each argument on ethical theories.
One of the debates was on the enforcement of patented life-saving treatments during pandemics. The team debated in favor of patents, using vaccines as an example.
The team debated on the government’s responsibility in protecting the environment from humankind. The team argued that the government has a responsibility to protect the environment and called for stricter regulations.
On the issue of defunding the police, the team argued for the reallocation of funds to provide greater help for victims of domestic violence and those in mental health crises.
“A lot of the cases we debate seem fringe at the time, but they seem to catapult to the forefront,” said Wareham.
“I am specifically interested in the ethical debates specific to political issues,” Smith said. Out of the cases, her favorites include debates on D.C. statehood and universal early childcare.
Park’s favorite field of ethical debate is environmental ethics.
“I think coming up with solutions to the climate crisis is, at this point, an imperative,” Park said.
Smith said she was proud of the team’s accomplishments. She credits the team’s success to Coach Wareham.
“He taught us the insides and out of ethics and was the reason for our success,” Smith said.
Wareham says ethical dialogue is part of the university’s mission to train responsible leaders.
“What we are debating is ethical and moral issues. Equipping students with these skills is important,” said Wareham.
The team received a qualification bid for the National Championship and plans to compete in the competition. Parks has transferred to another university and will not be able to participate.
“We would like to compete but some of the members have scheduling consequences so we’re not sure if we will be able to,” said Smith. She says the team would be able to compete if more members joined. Smith says the team would welcome new members with open arms.
Students interested in joining the team can contact Coach Justin Wareham at jwareham@okcu.edu
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