PC heads to the Ethics Bowl

The Providence College team that won the Northeast Regional Ethics Bowl at Sacred Heart University on Nov. 23 will compete in the national competition on Feb. 27. From left to right: Robert Gervasini, Matthew Dushel, Laura Wells, Michael McCormick and Michael Wasenius. / COURTESY SACRED HEART UNIVERSITY/MIKE LAUTERBORN
The Providence College team that won the Northeast Regional Ethics Bowl at Sacred Heart University on Nov. 23 will compete in the national competition on Feb. 27. From left to right: Robert Gervasini, Matthew Dushel, Laura Wells, Michael McCormick and Michael Wasenius. / COURTESY SACRED HEART UNIVERSITY/MIKE LAUTERBORN

PROVIDENCE – A team of five Providence College students has won the school a place among 32 finalists that will compete at the 18th Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl Championship, the college announced Tuesday.

The national ethics competition, which pits student teams against one another as they grapple with questions of professional, personal, social and political ethics, will be held Feb. 27 in Jacksonville, Fla.

This fall, 10 regional ethics competitions took place throughout the United States, and PC took home first place in the 2013 Northeast Regional Intercollegiate event at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn., on Nov. 23. Providence College competed against 27 teams including Colgate University, Villanova University, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and Williams College.

This year marked Providence College’s first appearance in the Ethics Bowl competition. Its five-member Ethics Bowl team includes three philosophy majors – Mark Dushel, class of 2014 of Serverna Park, Md.; Robert Gervasini, class of 2015 of Westerly; and Michael McCormick class of 2015 of Brewster, Mass. – as well as Michael Wasenius, class of 2014, of Ridgefield, Conn., a double major in quantitative economics and philosophy, and Laura Wells, class of 2014, of Poughquag, N.Y., who is majoring in mathematics and humanities.

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Raymond Hain and Patrick Macfarlane, both assistant professors of philosophy at PC, serve as the team’s faculty coaches.

In the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl Championship, the five PC students will have to demonstrate their ability to understand the facts of an ethics-related case, articulate the ethical principles involved, present an effective argument on how the case should be resolved, and respond effectively to challenges put forth by the opposing team and a panel of expert judges.

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