JCSU Debate Team Spoke To Humanity At The Ethics Bowl
The JCSU Competing Members of the Debate Team – Kirksey Beaty, Ananasa Dobson, Holiness Mhlanga, Shanitra Scott and Symphonie Whitted – had one of their best team performances in years at the 14th Annual North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (NCICU) Ethics Bowl in Raleigh.
This year’s tournament theme was “Ethics in Health and Wellness,” and the legal cases, currently in deliberation and debate across the nation, were issues in October to the 24 competing NCICU institutions. The nine cases included topics such as healthcare for undocumented immigrants, germline editing, anxiety and depression in young adults, physician-assisted suicide and healthcare rationing.
At the tournament, teams had luck with the draw on the opponents and the cases chosen for each round. JCSU faced St. Andrews for a debate on healthcare rationing and took a unanimous win defending the rights of all Americans to receive affordable care. Judges stated that JCSU’s strength was “reading the verbal and nonverbal” cues of their opponents to present a “data-supported argument that balanced and humanized the issue.”
In the second round, a surprise case was issued. Unfortunately, the configuration of the room blocked two of the three judges from viewing the faces of the team. The team raised their score and with the audience facing them, most stated that “JCSU had the round” including an opponent from Montreat College. However, the judge facing JCSU gave the win to the team while the other two gave one point each in favor of Montreat, a team that again made it to the finals. In a match against Wingate, JCSU raised its points to 253 out of 280 in the debate on the case of physician-assisted suicide. The case challenged the judges, who said it was “hard to pick a winner,” but Wingate took the round and also advanced to the final four.
In the final round, JCSU faced Queens University, last year’s tournament winner, on the ethics of Neuralink implants. A surgeon was one of the three judges and said that this hour-long debate was “the strongest round against two teams” that he had seen in his years with the tournament.
All of the judges said that JCSU “debated with passion, composure and research” that “spoke to humanity.” In a tough loss within a few points difference overall, Queens went on to the finals to win the tournament. The points were JCSU’s highest in recent years, and each opposing team was well-established, which wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of NCICU and Duke Energy which sponsored the expense of JCSU’s participation in the Ethics Bowl.
As a result of this year’s debate, members of the team walked away with new internships and travel invitations from professional judges ranging from Charlotte firms to a Chicago-based non-profit. The stellar performance of the team set a new bar for the future and was praised by the judges and opposing team members and was marked by some of our highest team scores to date.
Next year, standout closer Holiness will serve alongside rising senior Symphonie as co-captains. Four seats are opening up as senior team members graduate in May. Please contact [email protected] if you like research and competitive debate and would like more information on joining the team.
Dr. Laurie C. Porter is an Associate Professor of Communication and serves as the faculty co-advisor for the JCSU Debate Team alongside Dr. Kendal Mobley.