UT Tyler Office of Marketing and Communications

UT Tyler to Hold in Ethics Week

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February 19, 2013

Media Contact:  Hannah Buchanan
Editor/Writer–Strategic Communications & Media Relations
Marketing and Communications
The University of Texas at Tyler
903.539.7196 (cell)

February 18, 2013

The University of Texas at Tyler Center for Ethics will hold Ethics Week Feb. 18 – 22, Dr. Gloria Duke, UT Tyler Ethics Council chair, announced.

Among highlights throughout the week, UT Tyler will hold its first Ethics Bowl, where participating Smith County high schools will form blended teams to argue ethical positions around controversial case studies about which intelligent, thoughtful people can reasonably disagree. Winning scores will be based on quality of team arguments, not the position chosen.

The event, which will be 8:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20 in the UT Tyler University Center ballroom, will use the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl model for both content and process. An awards presentation will begin at 1:30 p.m.

“The Ethics Bowl is an outgrowth of the highly successful Emerging Leaders Program UT Tyler has been hosting for the past three years,” said Dr. Howard Patterson, vice president for administration and government relations, who also serves on the center’s executive council. “We are excited about the response we’ve received from the local schools and hope this will grow, like the Emerging Leaders Program, into something Smith County high school students look forward to participating in annually. It provides a unique setting and challenge that will enhance participants’ critical thinking skill as well as the quality of their oral presentations.”

Co-sponsors for Ethics Week include the UT Tyler Center for Global Education and UT Tyler Honors Program.

The UT Tyler Center for Ethics members have designated the Emerging Leaders Initiative as an outreach to Smith County high schools in 2010. As a result, Emerging Leaders conferences have been held annually for student leaders and counselors from area public and private schools. Students participated in inquiry, dialogue and reflection to examine ethics and its place in their lives.

The center stimulates reflection and conversations on the impact of decisions based on moral ethics.

For more information, contact Dr. Genie Linn, associate professor of educational leadership and Ethics Week coordinator, 903.565.5653 or glinn@uttyler.edu.

One of the 15 campuses of the UT System, UT Tyler offers excellence in teaching, research, artistic performance and community service. More than 80 undergraduate and graduate degree programs are available at UT Tyler, which has an enrollment of almost 7,000 high-ability students at its campuses in Tyler, Longview and Palestine.