Santa Clara University

From civility in public discourse to health care reform, the Ethics Center offered a rich program of events during the recently completed academic year dealing with key ethical issues in public life.  Take a look at the highlights.

The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics is pleased to announce the selection of the following seniors-to-be as Hackworth Fellows for the academic year 2010-2011. Hackworth Fellows work with their undergraduate peers to promote ethical reflection on a broad range of topics.

• Justin Gilio of Fresno, Calif., an economics major with a pre-law emphasis in philosophy. Justin will be working on law and ethics issues pertinent to the many pre-law students at SCU.
• Kadee Mardula of Park City, Utah, a mechanical engineering major. Kadee will be developing programs on such topics as codes of ethics for the different engineering disciplines pursued by her peers in the School of Engineering.
•  Meghan Skarzynski of Wilmette, Ill., a finance major. Meghan will be developing programs for her peers in the Leavey School of Business.

The Hackworth Fellowships in Applied Ethics are supported by the generosity of Mike and Joan Hackworth, longtime supporters of the Ethics Center and of SCU.

The Ethics Center awarded five Hackworth Research Grants to Santa Clara University faculty and students with projects on applied ethics. 

Faculty awards went to:

Yekaterina Bezrukova, Assistant Professor, SCU Psychology,  "When No One is Watching: Ethical Behavior in Groups"

John Ifcher, Lecturer, SCU Economics,  "Happiness Inequality and Income Growth"

Chad Raphael, Associate Professor, SCU Communication, "A More Deliberative Union: Equality and Publicity in Deliberative Democracy"

Student Awards went to:

Rochelle Stowe, SCU '10,  "Research Ethics and the Reduction of Ecological Footprints of Biological Research Stations"

Adelene Gallego Ramos, SCU MBA Student, for a film project called "Social Entrepreneurs, Ethics, and Making a Profit on the Bottom Billion"

The Hackworth Grants are made possible by a gift from Michael and Joan Hackworth.

SCU senior and Hackworth Fellow Courtney Meehan was awarded the 2010 Markkula Prize at a luncheon for graduates June 11.  Meehan was honored for her creation of TheTechnologicalCitizen.com, her blog on ethics and technology. 

The Markkula Prize honors students who have made an outstanding contribution in ethics.  It was named for A.C. "Mike" Markkula, Jr., who has been a longtime supporter of the Center.  Courtney is pictured here (left) with Krisit Markkula Bowers, director of the Markkula Foundation.

As students all over the country graduate from MBA programs, many will be givent he opportunity to sign the MBA Oath, a pledge to create value ethically and responsibly.  Kirk O. Hanson, the Center's executive director, talks with Center staff and SCU faculty about whether the oath is the right approach to encouraging more ethical behavior in the business world.

David DeCosse, Director of Campus Ethics Programs, met on November 11 with Santa Clara University ROTC officers, their commander, Lt. Col. Shawn Cowley, and one of their Army instructors, Captain Rob McMahon. In a three-hour class on the ethics of war, Dr. DeCosse and the cadets addressed such issues as the moral justification for killing in war; the use of the ethical principle of double effect in making judgments about the protection of civilians; and the ethical questions arising from the case of the Navy Seal Lt. Michael Murphy, who posthumously won the Medal of Honor after a 2005 battle in Afghanistan in which he and his Navy Seal colleagues refused to kill Afghan civilians who then revealed the Seals' position to the Taliban. Dr. DeCosse teaches the Ethics of War and Peace in the Department of Religious Studies at SCU. The Ethics Center looks forward to continuing its fruitful engagement with the officers of SCU's ROTC unit.
 
 

Should student clubs at state universities be allowed to require their leaders to share the club's beliefs?  That was the issue in the Supreme Court case Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, which forms the basis for the current case study on The Big Q. 

The Big Q project brings students from universities across the country into dialog about the ethical issues in their everyday lives.  This case is also being used by a Santa Clara University class on Christianity and politics.  The best student comment on the case wins a $100 Amazon gift certificate.