NCICU Presents its Ninth Annual Ethics Bowl
Chef Vivian Howard is Banquet Speaker
Students from 24 private college campuses across North Carolina will participate in the 9th Annual Ethics Bowl hosted by North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (NCICU). The event will be held February 21 and 22 at the North Carolina Legislative Complex in Raleigh. The topic this year is “Ethics in Agriculture.”
“The Ethics Bowl is both academically challenging and a personally rewarding experience for our students,” said NCICU President Hope Williams. “Determining ethical responses to complex situations leads to personal awareness and valuable discussion among team members and participating business and community leaders.”
“Agriculture is a $76 billion industry in North Carolina,” Williams continued. “Researching the cases presented will educate student participants on the complex and diverse aspects of agriculture, a field which is so ingrained in our culture and so vital to the state’s economy.”
Each Ethics Bowl team consists of four-to-six students. A campus coordinator works with the students to help them prepare for the competition which consists of four rounds over the two-days, plus semi-final and final rounds. In each round, a specially developed case study outlining a complex ethical situation related to agriculture will be presented to the teams for debate. The round is awarded to the team that makes the most sound, persuasive presentation. Approximately 55 business, non-profit and government professionals will serve as judges and moderators.
A banquet for campus participants, judges, moderators and sponsors will be held Friday evening at the North Carolina Museum of History. Vivian Howard, Chef/Owner of Chef and the Farmer, Boiler Room Oyster Bar, and Benny’s Bigtime Pizzeria, the keynote speaker, will share her
commitment to using locally grown, fresh ingredients from North Carolina’s farmers in all her restaurants.
Howard grew up in Deep Run, NC where her parents grew tobacco, cotton, soybeans and corn. She attended Salem Academy and is a graduate of NC State University.
Howard spent a semester in Argentina as part of a culinary-themed program. Howard worked in advertising in New York City before
moving to restaurant work. She subsequently graduated from the Institute of Culinary Education in NYC and completed additional internships and training. Howard and her husband, artist Ben Knight, moved back to North Carolina and opened Chef and the Farmer in 2006.
The NCICU Ethics Bowl is made possible by sponsorships that allow students to participate at no cost to themselves or their institutions.
“Students consistently cite the NCICU Ethics Bowl as a highlight of their college experience,” Williams said. “We deeply appreciate the corporate and civic leaders who make this event possible through financial contributions and by volunteering their time as judges and moderators.”
PARTICIPATING COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
Barton College
Belmont Abby College
Campbell University
Catawba College
Chowan University
Gardner-Webb University
High Point University
Johnson C. Smith University
Livingstone College
Louisburg College
Mars Hill University
Meredith College
Methodist University
Montreat College
North Carolina Wesleyan College
Pfeiffer University
Queens University of Charlotte
Saint Augustine’s University
Salem College
St. Andrews University
University of Mount Olive
Wake Forest University
William Peace University
Wingate University
ETHICS BOWL SPONSORS
Ads Infinitum
Catering Works
Cherry Bekaert
Coca-Cola Bottling Co.
Dominion Energy
Elevate Textiles
Enterprise Holdings
First American Education Finance
Friends of Catawba College
Friends of Campbell University
Gregory Poole
High Point University
Melanie Chrisp-Thorpe
Friends of Johnson C. Smith University
Friends of William Peace University
Friends of Wingate University
Ketchum
Colleen Kinser
Laurinburg, Trinity, Chadbourn and First Presbyterian Churches
and other friends of St. Andrews University
McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture
Mount Olive Pickle Co.
Piedmont Natural Gas
Steve and Liz Riley
SunTrust Bank, Now Truist
TIAA
Wegmans
Hope Williams