No ethical conundrum is too daunting for the intellectual powerhouses on Ohio Northern University’s Ethics Bowl team.
Only the second team in school history to qualify for nationals, the 2025-26 team is set to compete in the APPE Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl (APPE IEB) ® national competition in St. Louis, Missouri, which takes place March 7-8.
Primed and ready, the Polar Bears will face off against 35 elite undergraduate teams from across the country, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and the University of Pennsylvania.
“Our goal isn’t just to show up,” said Sunny Lloyd, PPE (philosophy, politics, and economics) major and a leader on the team, “our goal is to seriously compete at the national level and bring back some hardware for ONU.”
The art of the argument
The six teammates have spent grueling hours preparing, critiquing, and refining their moral arguments for the competition’s 17 cases involving real-life ethical challenges in education, business, life, and politics.
Ethical questions range from the personal: “What should you do when an authority figure asks you to carry out an order you believe is immoral?” to the global: “Is it morally permissible to use AI given the environmental cost?”
In Ethics Bowl competitions, teams are not judged by “right or wrong” answers, but by their ability to analyze the ethical dimensions of each case in a clear, focused, and thoughtful manner, and with an appreciation for diverse perspectives.
Team coach Jonathan Spelman, associate professor of philosophy, lauds the Ethics Bowl for developing skills in reasoning and public speaking, while also honing character virtues like intellectual courage, empathy, and humility.
“Students come to realize that their views on a controversial issue may not be the one solution that’s correct, and that there could be a strong argument and reasoned view that’s different from their own,” he said. “They learn to talk with one another in a respectful way that leads to better understanding and empathy.”
A talented, multidisciplinary team
The strength of ONU’s team lies in its academic breadth and the fact that each teammate is not only intellectually gifted, but also brings a unique skill to the table.
The team consists of:
- Sunny Lloyd, a teambuilder who has cultivated a family-like atmosphere on the team;
- Gabe Mott, statistics and political science major, an analytical, seasoned debater, who was part of the 2022-23 team that went to nationals;
- Isaac Trujillo, pharmacy major, an eloquent public speaker;
- Carys Williams, PPE major, a thorough researcher;
- Cora Neville, environmental and field biology major, an inquisitive mind;
- Lawton Rowan, pharmacy major, a true competitor.
Before she completed her studies in December, Alison Ringhiser, was also a key member of the team.
In addition to Spelman, Dr. Robert Hartman, assistant professor of philosophy, also coaches the team and helps them prepare for competitions.
Reasoning on the national stage
For nationals, the ONU team has thoroughly prepared a well-reasoned, 10-minute presentation for each of the 17 cases. However, the questions for each case aren’t revealed until the actual competition.
“We have to be prepared to be flexible and change our presentation on a dime if the situation requires it,” said Sunny.
While winning a trophy would be amazing, being on the Ethics Bowl team offers long-term benefits that will help the team members long after the competition.
Rowan said he’s learning skills that will make him a better pharmacist someday.
“My biggest takeaways have been learning how to reason under uncertainty and pressure and communicate disagreements respectfully,” he noted.
And while Gabe is optimistic about the team’s chances, he often reminds himself that the Ethics Bowl is about more than winning.
“It’s about everyone working together to support better moral discourse,” he said.
