Five Bridgewater College students will compete in the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges’ (VFIC) 25th annual statewide collegiate Applied Ethics Bowl, presented by TowneBank, on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, on the University of Richmond campus in Richmond, Va.
The Bridgewater College team will compete head-to-head against other highly qualified student teams from Virginia’s leading independent colleges and universities, deliberating a variety of case studies relating to this year’s Applied Ethics Bowl event theme “Ethics and Artificial Intelligence.” The members of the Bridgewater College student team are: Elizabeth D’Aurora ’26 from Leonardtown, Md.; Jadon Goldsmith ’25 from Oklahoma City, Okla.; Avery Gray ’25 from North Chesterfield, Va.; Samantha Herbst ’25 from Berkeley Springs, W.Va.; and Ethan Thee ’28 from Broadway, Va. The faculty coordinator for the team is Dr. Steve Ingham, Instructor of Communication Studies.
Many notable individuals from a variety of career fields including business, cybersecurity, education, engineering, law, finance and others will listen to team presentations and offer reactions to the students’ presentations. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Applied Ethics Bowl, the VFIC will honor past VFIC Board Chairs who served since 2000, the inception of the event.
The 2025 VFIC Applied Ethics Bowl will begin with an opening session on Friday, Feb. 7, at 10:30 a.m. in University of Richmond’s Ukrop Auditorium, with the first round scheduled for 11:00 a.m. in various rooms in the Robins School of Business. Rounds 2 through 4 begin at 2:00 pm and conclude at 4:45 p.m. Participants and guests will meet at the Jepson Alumni Center Ukrop Gallery at 5:00 p.m. for a reception followed by the championship round of competition which will take place at 6:00 p.m. in the Robins Pavilion also located in the Jepson Alumni Center.
The public is invited to attend and view the rounds free of charge. The winning team will be announced at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Hollins University took home the Batten Trophy at the last Applied Ethics Bowl in 2024, and the runner up was the University of Lynchburg.
Teams from Bridgewater have participated in the VFIC Ethics Bowl since its founding in 2000.
Media Contact:
Heather Cole
Editor & Director of Media Relations
hcole@bridgewater.edu
1/31/25
