RALEIGH, NC – February 20, 2020 — Barton College’s Ethics Bowl Team (Haley Oliver of Middlesex, Malinda Smith of New Bern, Tehira Nash of Raleigh, and Kaydene Powell of Garner) will join students from 24 private college campuses across North Carolina to participate in the 9th Annual Ethics Bowl hosted by North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (NCICU). The event will be held February 21 and 22 at the North Carolina Legislative Complex in Raleigh. The topic this year is “Ethics in Agriculture.”
“The Ethics Bowl is both academically challenging and a personally rewarding experience for our students,” said NCICU president Hope Williams. “Determining ethical responses to complex situations leads to personal awareness and valuable discussion among team members and participating business and community leaders.”
“Agriculture is a $76 billion industry in North Carolina,” Williams continued. “Researching the cases presented will educate student participants on the complex and diverse aspects of agriculture, a field which is so ingrained in our culture and so vital to the state’s economy.”
Each Ethics Bowl team consists of four-to-six students. A campus coordinator works with the students to help them prepare for the competition, which consists of four rounds over the two-days, plus semi-final and final rounds. In each round, a specially developed case study outlining a complex ethical situation related to agriculture will be presented to the teams for debate. The round is awarded to the team that makes the most sound, persuasive presentation. Approximately 55 business, non-profit and government professionals will serve as judges and moderators.
A banquet for campus participants, judges, moderators and sponsors will be held Friday evening at the North Carolina Museum of History. Vivian Howard, Chef/Owner of Chef and the Farmer, Boiler Room Oyster Bar, and Benny’s Bigtime Pizzeria, the keynote speaker, will share her commitment to using locally grown, fresh ingredients from North Carolina’s farmers in all her restaurants.
Howard grew up in Deep Run, where her parents grew tobacco, cotton, soybeans and corn. She attended Salem Academy and is a graduate of NC State University. She spent a semester in Argentina as part of a culinary-themed program. Howard also worked in advertising in New York City before moving to restaurant work. She subsequently graduated from the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City and completed additional internships and training. Howard and her husband, artist Ben Knight, moved back to North Carolina and opened Chef and the Farmer in 2006.
The NCICU Ethics Bowl is made possible by sponsorships that allow students to participate at no cost to themselves or their institutions.
“Students consistently cite the NCICU Ethics Bowl as a highlight of their college experience,” Williams said. “We deeply appreciate the corporate and civic leaders who make this event possible through financial contributions and by volunteering their time as judges and moderators.”
North Carolina Independent Colleges & Universities is the statewide office of North Carolina’s 36 independent colleges and universities. NCICU represents independent higher education in the areas of state and federal public policy and on education issues with the other sectors of education in the state. It also raises funds for student scholarships and enrichment experiences, provides research and information to and about independent colleges and universities, conducts staff development opportunities and coordinates collaborative programs. For more information about NCICU, visit www.ncicu.org.
Participating colleges and universities include Barton College, Belmont Abby College, Campbell University, Catawba College, Chowan University, Gardner-Webb University, High Point University, Johnson C. Smith University, Livingstone College, Louisburg College, Mars Hill University, Meredith College, Methodist University, Montreat College, North Carolina Wesleyan College, Pfeiffer University, Queens University of Charlotte, Saint Augustine’s University, Salem College, St. Andrews University, University of Mount Olive, Wake Forest University, William Peace University, and Wingate University.
Ethics Bowl sponsors include Ads Infinitum, Catering Works, Cherry Bekaert, Coca-Cola Bottling Co., Dominion Energy, Elevate Textiles, Enterprise Holdings, First American Education Finance, Friends of Catawba College, Friends of Campbell University, Melanie Chrisp-Thorpe, Friends of Johnson C. Smith University, Friends of William Peace University, Friends of Wingate University, Ketchum Colleen Kinser, Laurinburg, Trinity, Chadbourn, and First Presbyterian Churches and other friends of St. Andrews University, McMillan Pazdan Smith, Architecture, Mount Olive Pickle Co., Piedmont Natural Gas, Steve and Liz Riley, SunTrust Bank, Now Truist, TIAA, Wegmans, and Hope Williams.
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