Stanford University a semi-finalist at national Ethics Bowl competition

St. Louis (March 12, 2026)—Undergraduate students from Stanford Practical Ethics Club led by the McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society, recently competed in the national championship for the APPE Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl (APPE IEB)®, March 7 and 8 in St. Louis.

Semi-finalists in the competition were teams from Stanford University and University of Florida. Quarter Finalists were teams from Harvard University, Macalester College, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and Utah Valley University.

William & Mary took home the trophy after a final match against Seattle University.

Two cases were discussed in the semi-finalist round. They included: if gamifying consent in reality tv shows undermines sexual consent education, and if geoengineering weather should be in the hands of billionaires. 

Over two days, 36 teams of undergraduate college students from across the country wrestled with these and other thorny issues using a set of cases that were drawn from real-life ethical challenges in education, business, life, and politics. The teams participating in the APPE IEB®, were judged not by their answers to specific questions, but by their ability to identify and analyze the ethical dimensions of each case in a clear, focused, and thoughtful manner and with an appreciation for varied perspectives.

“Like in life, the cases are complex, difficult to resolve, and sometimes polarizing,” said Michael Jordan, APPE IEB® Council Chair. “Unlike debate, in Ethics Bowl, teams are not assigned ‘pro’ and ‘con’ sides of an ethical issue. Each team’s goal is to identify the various ethical considerations, analyze the importance of those, and engage in civil discourse with another team that expands the conversation based on its position. Our goal is to help students see the value of continuing to engage with others despite difference, to understand more about views that differ from their own, and to help students think of collaborative solutions to solve societal problems.”

Download the full set of cases.

Watch the recording of the final match.

“In some ways, the conversations during Ethics Bowl rounds are the antithesis of what most of us have come to expect when picturing conversations about really difficult topics,” said Kristen Fuhs Wells, executive director at the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics. “Although the students are dealing with controversial questions and often opposing viewpoints, they listen and empathize. They discuss and reason with each other. They present positions based on just and ethical considerations. I can’t help but imagine the types of solutions we could come up with if we all practiced the same approach to talking with people about our disagreements.”

The 36 qualifying teams were:

·       Bowling Green State University

·       Cameron University

·       Colorado School of Mines

·       DePauw University

·       Georgia Southern University

·       Georgia Institute of Technology

·       Harvard University

·       Louisiana State University

·       Macalester College

·       Northwestern University

·       Occidental College

·       Ohio Northern University

·       Seattle University

·       Snow College

·       Spelman College

·       St. Mary's College of Maryland

·       Stanford University

·       United States Military Academy

·       University of California, Santa Barbara

·       University of California, Santa Cruz

·       University of Central Arkansas

·       University of Central Florida

·       University of Florida

·       University of Houston

·       University of Iowa

·       University of Maryland, Baltimore County

·       University of Missouri

·       University of Pennsylvania

·       University of Richmond

·       Utah State University

·       Utah Valley University

·       Washington and Lee University

·       Whitworth University

·       William & Mary

·       Yale University

·       Youngstown State University 

The national competition is held in conjunction with the annual international conference of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE). APPE is an international non-profit membership organization founded in 1991 dedicated to advancing scholarship, education, and practice in practical and professional ethics. 

About the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics

The Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE) is an international nonprofit membership organization that supports research, training, and education in practical and professional ethics. It was founded in 1991 to encourage interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching among educators and practitioners. APPE hosts an annual conference and the APPE Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl® each February. Since 2017 APPE has been housed at the Prindle Institute for Ethics at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. Learn more at www.appe-ethics.org.