Charlotte, N.C./Feb. 16, 2023 – A six-person debate team from Johnson C. Smith University recently traveled to Raleigh for the annual North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (NCICU) Ethics Bowl.
Thanks to their diligent preparation and guidance from their faculty coordinators Dr. Laurie Porter, associate professor of Communications, and Dr. Kendall P. Mobley, associate professor of Religion and coordinator of JCSU’s Spiritual Life Center, the team won three of their four case debates.
The team was captained by Brandi Barron ’23, a Communication Arts student, who said she wanted to give it her all with her team for her final Ethics Bowl competition.
“This is my third year as a part of the debate team,” she said. “Like any senior, or someone getting ready to transition, you want to leave your legacy. I am so proud of the team. We ended the tournament three-to-one, with our only loss being the surprise round against Queens University, which won the entire Ethics Bowl.”
The team won their first case on Germline, or genetic editing, against Mt. Olive University. According to Porter, the judges commented that the team was very well prepared.
The third-round win to Chowan University was on the ethical issues in regulating Artificial Intelligence in today’s society.
The final round was Barron’s favorite win, as the JCSU Debate Team took on N.C. Wesleyan University on the ethical responsibility of government and the healthcare industry to address the mental health crisis in the U.S.
“That case was one we had highly anticipated and were most prepared to debate,” explained Barron. “We brought our vulnerability to the case with us by sharing personal experiences to strengthen our solution-based response. That round itself was a personal win.”
“With the team being all-female this year, I definitely felt it added to our delivery on the cases,” she said. “We made sure that we brought the female perspective which, more times than others, puts humanity first and logic second.”
Barron was a starter for the team along with Madison Booker-Smith ’23, Jaelyn Gartrell ’23, Alonia Latimore ’24 and Sydlie Fleurimond ’23, and alternate Sha’Nautica Nuness ’26. JCSU students interested in joining the Debate Club and participating in next year’s Ethics Bowl should email lcporter@jcsu.edu or kmobley@jcsu.edu.
