By Jacqueline Arroyo / The Jambar
The Youngstown State University Ethics Bowl team returned home with success after its trip to nationals on Feb. 22-23. The team traveled to Norfolk, Virginia, and competed in the 2025 Association for Practical and Professional Ethics Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl National Championship.
YSU tied with Macalester College in the semifinal round, adding to its list of accomplishments. Ethics bowl is a debate-style competition that requires students to analyze ethical issues and engage in civil discourse with other teams from around the country.
Competition started with 200 teams at the regional level, then the top 36 teams advanced to the national competition.
Throughout competitions, YSU defeated Taylor University, the University of Chicago and The Ohio State University, while also outperforming Yale University, Stanford University and the United States Military Academy at West Point.
This marks YSU’s 10th season, with members representing four different colleges. Since the team’s founding, it has earned nine trips to nationals, won seven regional first-place titles and crowned national champions in 2020.
The team is coached by Alan Tomhave, associate dean of the Beeghly College of Liberal Arts, Social Sciences and Education, and Mark Vopat, professor of humanities and social sciences.
Both coaches help the team prepare for competition through weekly practices.
“Preparation involves attending practices one time a week as a complete team, plus one time a week with just your competition team,” Tomhave stated. “There is the YSU team, which is actually two competition teams.”
During practices, the team welcomes faculty and community members to participate as guest judges.
The judges listen to presentations, ask questions and help the team prepare for competition. Practices are usually held in the evening for two and a half hours, scheduled around the availability of students and coaches.
During each competition, a case is selected from the set and a moderator poses questions based on that case. Cases are designed to challenge students to discuss complex issues, showcase critical thinking and communication skills.
Ethical topics vary each season. In the team’s most recent competition, topics included mental health advice on social media, food waste in the U.S., doorbell cameras and the age of judges.
“Once a question is asked, the team gets two minutes to confer, come up with a position, an ethical argument, and issues that might be raised by those who disagree with them, before taking 10 minutes to present,” Tomhave stated.
Members of the winning team included senior Jordan Pintar and juniors Sofie Myers, Brandon Tabak and Peyton Hodge.
Tomhave said emails are sent out in the fall to students who have already expressed interest in the team and added that anyone else interested should reach out.
“So, the best way for students to participate is to email me and let me know of their interest,” Tomhave said. “Then they can come to the first meeting and see if it is for them.”