UM Ethics Team headed to national tournament Four A&S students included

Ashley Carnes, Caitlin Giles, Haley Kornfield, and Josh Kornfield are headed to the National Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl in Cincinnati in March to represent the University of Miami as they compete against for the 2009 championship. The Arts & Sciences students/UM Ethics Team, which also includes Robert Levine, an economics, accounting, and finance major, defeated contenders from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, UNC Charlotte, and West Virginia, among others, to tie for the top spot with Clemson, the National Ethics Bowl champions last year.

Carnes, is a senior international relations major; Haley Kornfield, is a junior political science major; Josh Kornfield, a sophomore international relations major; and alternate Giles, is a freshman political science major. The team’s appearance at the national championship will mark the third time that UM will be represented at the national event since 2007. The top 36 teams from 11 regional events across the country are invited to the National Bowl. In 2007 UM took first place, and in 2009 finished in the final four.

“I’m thrilled by the impressive performance of both teams in the regional competition,” said Anita Cava, associate professor of business law, director of the school’s Business Ethics Program and co-director of the UM Ethics Programs. “Great credit goes to the students of the UM Ethics Society and many thanks go to our supporters.”

UM sent two teams to this year’s regional competition. The other team included A&S students Andrew Hamner, a junior political science major; Elana Reman, a sophomore media management and political science major; Jaime Williams, a junior international relations and psychology major; and alternate Marcela Arcos, a freshman economics and Latin American studies major. The team narrowly missed being in the semi-final round.

The two teams earned the opportunity to represent UM at the regional competition after competing in UM’s sixth annual UM Ethics Debate at the School of Business Administration earlier this month. Conceived and funded by Karl and Tere Schulze and further supported by the Arsht Initiatives of the UM Ethics Programs, the annual debates help heighten students’ awareness of the ethical components of real-life situations and improve their debating and communications skills.

Congratulations to the UM Ethics Team!

December 3, 2009