DePauw Stories

For the 16th time in the last 21 years, a DePauw University Ethics Bowl team has qualified for the national competition. The team earned the bid through its outstanding performance at the Central States Regional Ethics Bowl at Marian University on November 16, where students presented thoroughly-researched arguments in response to complex ethical questions.

“Most of the questions in competition were unexpected, and we had to pivot our presentations to fully address the ethical issues they asked about,” explains team member Calvin Mensel ’27. “It was fun to see the skill of the team shine through in adapting and thinking on our feet.”

Jeff Dunn, Phyllis W. Nicholas Director of the Prindle Institute for Ethics and associate professor of philosophy, sees the accomplishment as a reinforcement of DePauw’s reputation as a hub for ethics bowl activity as well as a testament to the leadership of the team’s long-time coach and senior professor of philosophy Marcia McKelligan. “A lot of the team’s success can be attributed to Professor McKelligan's great work in building a tradition where students are excited about and interested in thinking deeply about ethics. Marcia has high standards for the team, and the students respond positively to this.”

Mensel agrees. “Professor McKelligan's coaching has led DePauw to nationals consistently over the decades because of the depth of thought she promotes for every case we tackle. Although some of the competition rules have changed over the years, we always tend to prioritize presentation styles that allow for very direct and nuanced arguments.”

McKelligan has coached DePauw’s ethics bowl teams for 25 years, a tenure that has included multiple regional championships as well as a national championship in 2013. Three of her former team members have even gone on to start ethics bowl teams at the universities where they are teaching. After all these years, she continues to be impressed by the talent and dedication of the students who participate.

“DePauw students are very bright, and they tend to be competitive and driven – in a good way!” says McKelligan. “Our winning tradition inspires and motivates them. They want to do their personal best, and they want to do well for DePauw. They work hard, and they hold their teammates accountable. That's the key to our success, as I see it.”

In the months leading up to the regional competition, students spent six to eight hours each week meeting together as a group in order to identify and research the salient moral issues they would need to master, to write and rewrite outlines for their presentations and to engage in mock competitions as a way of sharpening their skills – in addition to all the work and collaboration that took place outside of group meeting times.

They will now continue that preparation with even greater intensity as they gear up for the APPE Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl National Competition in Norfolk, Virginia, on February 22-23. By the end of the month, the team will receive a brand new batch of cases to prepare, and team members will waste little time getting to work.

“The students are extremely excited about going to nationals,” says McKelligan. “The level of competition is higher, and the students will need a more solid grasp of moral theory. Additionally, there were only nine cases at regionals and now we'll have 17, so there is a great deal more work to do.”

This year’s team is ready to take on the challenge and add their own imprint on DePauw’s rich legacy of ethics bowl success. “I am very very proud of my Ethics Bowlers,” says McKelligan. “I am very grateful to them for their hard work and for making this wonderful experience possible.”

To learn more about ethics education at DePauw University, visit the Prindle Institute for Ethics.