YSU Wins Ethics Bowl National Title

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – It may not come with the fanfare of a sport like football, but Youngstown State University is once again a national champion. 

In Atlanta, the university’s ethics team took the top prize in the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl.

Samantha Fritz, Jacob Tomory, Moataz Abdelrasoul, Eva Lamberson and Michael Factor bested squads from Stanford University, Yale University, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the U.S. Naval Academy, Tufts University, the University of California Santa Barbara and the University of Central Florida. 

This was the fifth consecutive year that YSU placed a team in the national tournament. YSU’s team advanced to the national finals after winning the Central States Regional Ethics Bowl competition in Indianapolis for the fourth consecutive year. 

Ethics Bowl teams are tasked with arguing and defending their assessment of social issues, including business and professional ethics. 

The team is coached by two members of the department of philosophy and religious studies: chairman Alan Tomhave and professor Mark Vopat.

“In the final round, the main organizer walked up after our commentary on the other team and remarked that it was the best commentary that he had ever seen,” Tomhave said in a statement. “A judge from earlier in the day also watched and commented that one of the things that really makes our team stand out is that they really listen and engage with the issues and arguments from the other teams.”

SOURCE: Youngstown State University

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.