Debate Takes Third at Business Ethics Case Competition

The Ethics Debate Team placed Third in the Business Ethics Case Competition at Mount St. Mary's University. The team for this competition consisted of CDTs Rivers Hinson '21, Sophia Maliscke '21, Gabrielle Alford '19, and Brett Yelverton '19. Like the Military Case Competition, this competition asks teams to create a 20-minute presentation in response to a select case. This year, the case focused on Bank of America's controversial acquisition of Merrill Lynch in 2008. The team assessed the actions of Bank of America's CEO Ken Lewis in the lead up to the purchase and the aftermath. The team argued that the leaders of both organizations acted unethically insofar as they deceived their shareholders, thus violating their moral obligations to them, and rewarded unjust behavior in the form of bonuses to top employees whose behavior contributed significantly to the financial crisis.