The Department of Philosophy at Santa Clara University College of Arts and Sciences celebrated World Philosophy Day on November 13, 2025. First launched by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2002, the day highlights philosophy’s role in fostering critical thinking, respect, and peace. Philosophy sparks social change and intercultural dialogue, giving us tools to improve the world. SCU’s celebration aimed to spark meaningful conversations about philosophy and how it has shaped our lives.
The Ethics Center was well represented at the day’s event with Ethics Center Faculty Scholars Associate Professor Philosophy and Classics Scott LaBarge, Professors of Philosophy Eric Ramirez and Lawrence Nelson, Philosophy Teaching Professor Ethics Bowl Coach Erin Bradfield, and current Hackworth Fellow and SCU Senior Noah Kisel, all participating in presentations, panels and lightning talks.
A panel which included six alumni from Ethics Center programs shared their experiences that intertwined both philosophy and their time at the Center. Johana Engstrom ’22, Ethics Center program manager for fellowships and internships presented attending students with information about the Center’s ethics focused research grant application opportunities for students which occur during spring and fall quarters.
Current Ethics Center Marketing and Communications Intern and SCU sophomore, Diya Chaudary, connected with the alumni during the event for a discussion about how their involvement with the Ethics Center as undergraduate students has impacted their current careers and continued education.
Kelly Shi ’16, a 2015-16 Hackworth Fellow and Ethics Bowl squad member, is now completing a masters degree at Duke University, focusing on ethics. Shi gave a shoutout to the Ethics Bowl which is a team-based competition consisting of debate over a wide range of complex and pressing ethical issues.
Her involvement in the Center’s programs helped her think on her feet, especially in her current role as a teacher in a small campus community. Shi’s Ethics Bowl experience shaped how she shows up professionally, and she said it was a really fun and lively practice for collective problem solving. One of her favorite memories was hashing it out during practice sessions and the adrenaline she felt when presenting a case.
“In addition to embracing uncertainty, fall in love with it, say yes to it. As an undergrad, you are so young and have so much ahead of you.” Shi emphasized that the decisions you make after graduation can be quite exciting but it’s also the best time to take risks and to do things you might not be able to do later on.
Dorian Clay ’22, also involved in Ethics Bowl, worked at Microsoft for several years, and then went on to get his masters at Carnegie Mellon. Clay discussed how philosophy is extremely important in the ethics of developing artificial intelligence and the impact it has on the world. He recommends everyone to participate in the Ethics Bowl because to him, it was a form of teaching that you can’t access anywhere.
2013-14 Ethics Bowl Team Member Eric Johnson ’14 works as a wildland firefighter in Sonoma County. Johnson attributed the Ethics Bowl as a phenomenal way everyone can get something out of current events that is coherent and provides structure to your life.
2022-23 Healthcare Ethics Intern and 2023-24 Honzel Fellow, Shelby Jennett ’24 completed a Master’s in bioethics at Harvard University, and is now applying to medical school. One piece of advice she has is to get comfortable with uncertainty in regards to thinking about what it means to live authentically.
Jennett appreciated her time working with the Ethics Center, saying that it was an extremely unique opportunity to get exposed to current issues in healthcare while doing it from such an applied standpoint. She appreciated getting so many different perspectives on healthcare as she learned from real physicians and cases they have already gone through.
Ethics Bowl Team Member Clare MacMillin ’23 spent a year abroad in Italy, Ireland, and Scotland, and now works at a startup. She emphasized that you can figure things out as you go more than you would expect; and you are capable of handling things as they come, more than you think you can.
Anthony Mejia ’20 was a 2019-20 Hackworth Fellow and part of the Ethics Bowl team during his years at SCU. During the panel, Mejia attributed philosophy to giving him the tools to make life decisions through the values that inform them. He started as a public defender and worked in immigration, which he said are also broken systems and corrupt in their own ways, but the decisions we make about our careers are a reflection of those values.
In a previous interview with the Ethics Center from 2024, Mejia said, “I would not be the person I am today or be where I’m at today without the Markkula Center…the Ethics Bowl and the Hackworth Fellowship, I talk about every chance I get.”
Diya Chaudhary, a sophomore studying communication, and a 2025-26 marketing and communications intern at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, was a lead contributor to this story.