Clemson ethics bowl team wins regional competition

Published: December 8, 2010

Clemson students compete in regional Ethics Bowl. Left to right: Nikki Powell, Yancey Appling, Calla Jean, Spencer Taylor (speaking) and Courtney Dixon image by: Clemson University

By Sidney Nimmons

CLEMSON — Clemson University’s Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl team took first place in the fourth annual Mid-Atlantic Regional Ethics Bowl in Richmond, Va., by knocking off past regional champion University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in the final round. It is the second time the Clemson team has been a winner in the regional competition.

The team also bested competitors from the universities of Maryland, North Carolina-Charlotte and Miami, past national champions who shared the regional title with Clemson last year.

Winning the event qualifies the team for a trip to the March 2011 national competition in Cincinnati, Ohio. Clemson’s ethics bowl team won the national title in 2008 and placed second in 2009.

“The team is thrilled to be ‘bowl-bound’,” said Charles Starkey, team coach and associate professor in the philosophy and religion department. “With only one returning member on the team, we had a challenge ahead of us,” Starkey said.

The winning team members are Yancey Appling, a sophomore microbiology major from Six Mile; Courtney Dixon, a junior political science and philosophy major from Columbia; Calla Jean, a senior political science major from Yorktown, Va.; Nikki Powell, a junior microbiology major from Aiken; and Spencer Taylor, a sophomore biological sciences major from Greenville.

“The team members spent long hours getting up to speed and ready for the competition, but in the end it paid off. Their presentations were articulate and forceful, and their teamwork was great,” said Starkey.

The ethics bowl team is supported by the Rutland Institute for Ethics and the philosophy and religion department.

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