APPE IEB® National Competition
The 2025 APPE Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl (APPE IEB)® National Competition was held in Norfolk, Virginia, February 22 and 23. Congratulations to Macalester College, this year's winning team!
Over two days, 36 teams of undergraduate college students from across the country discussed issues using a set of cases that were drawn from real-life ethical challenges in education, business, life, and politics. The teams participating in the APPE IEB® are judged not by their answers to specific questions, but by their ability to identify and analyze the ethical dimensions of each case in a clear, focused, and thoughtful manner and with an appreciation for varied perspectives.
A team of case writers works on cases throughout the summer and fall and students have approximately two months to prepare for the competition. Nearly 200 teams from more than 150 schools compete in regional competitions each fall to earn a berth to the national competition.
The national competition is held in conjunction with APPE’s annual conference each year. In 2026, it will be held March 7 and 8 in St. Louis.
2025 National Competition Case Set
The National Competition uses a unique set of 17 cases. This year's case set includes questions about space weaponization, parental rights and responsibilities, security issues around automotive tracking devices and doorbell cameras, tipping culture, hostile architecture, how to tackle food waste, and more.
Event Schedule
Saturday, February 22, 2025
1:00 p.m.: Team Check-In Opens
3:30 p.m.: Judge and Moderator Check-In
4:00 p.m: Volunteer Training
4:30 p.m.: Opening Plenary
5:00 p.m.: Round One Matches
6:30 p.m.: Round Two Matches
Sunday, February 23, 2025
9:00 a.m.: Round Three Matches
10:30 a.m.: Round Four Matches
Noon: Announcements
1:00 p.m.: Quarterfinals
2:30 p.m.: Semi-Finals
4:00 p.m.: Finals, Award Ceremony
Location
The competition will take place in Hilton Norfolk The Main, which is located at 100 East Main Street, just off Waterside Drive.
Ethics Bowlers goers can take advantage of a special rate of $184/night. Use this link to reserve your room by Jan. 30 at 11:59 p.m., ET and use Group Code: APE. If you wish to reserve your room by phone, you may call the Hilton reservation line at 800-435-7435. Please, notify them you are with the APPE annual conference to receive the conference rate (Group Code: APE).
Please note: APPE's contract requires a minimum number of nights at the conference hotel, and we get rebates and complimentary staff rooms based on the total number of night stays. If at all possible, we encourage you to stay at the conference hotel and be sure to use the APPE code and rate instead of a third party booking site so that we get credit for the booking.
Norfolk International Airport is 9 miles and less than 20 minutes away.
The hotel does not have a complimentary shuttle to the airport or other destinations. Both Lyft and Uber are authorized to operate at ORF. Click here for more information about transportation options to/from the airport.
There is both valet and self-parking accessible to hotel guests. APPE does not have a contracted discounted rate for conference parking.
Self Parking: $20 / day
Valet Parking: $28 / day
2025 Teams
- Baylor University
- Cabrillo College
- Coastal Carolina University
- DePauw University
- Duke University
- Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech)
- Georgia Southern University
- Harper College
- Indiana University
- Loras College
- Loyola University Chicago
- Macalester College
- Northeastern University
- Oklahoma State University
- Rollins College
- Salisbury University
- Seattle University
- Seton Hall University
- Stanford University
- Taylor University
- United States Military Academy at West Point
- University of Arizona
- University of California, San Diego
- University of California, Santa Barbara
- University of Central Arkansas
- University of Central Florida
- University of Colorado-Boulder
- University of Iowa
- University of Maryland, Baltimore County
- University of Minnesota, Morris
- University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
- Utah State University
- Utah Valley University
- Virginia Tech
- Whitworth University
- Youngstown State University
2025 National Competition
Undergraduate students from Macalester College took home the national championship in the APPE Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl (APPE IEB)®, which was held February 22 and 23 in Norfolk, Virginia. The final match against Stanford University featured cases about space weaponry and term limits for federal judges.
In the final, the students discussed the following questions:
- If you were tasked with outlining the United States’ policy with respect to the use of space weaponry, what would that policy look like?
- If you were tasked with producing a policy regarding the term lengths for federal judges (up to and including lifetime appointments), what would that policy look like?
Semi-finalists in the competition were teams from Seattle University and Youngstown State University. Quarterfinalists were teams from University of Arizona, University of California—Santa Barbara, University of Colorado—Boulder, and U.S. Military Academy, West Point.
