Following is the text of a message I received on Saturday from Dr. Bryan Johnson, Director of our University Fellows program, writing from Tallahassee where university students from Birmingham had a very successful weekend:

Our University Fellows Ethics Bowl team just finished as runners-up to UAB at the National Bioethics Bowl Tournament.  In their first bioethics competition, Bailey Bridgeman, Stone Hendrickson, Jordan Holland, Laura Ann Prickett, and Caleb Punt won five matches in a row to make it into the championship match.  They defeated Illinois Tech, Doral College, DePauw University, Dartmouth, and Florida State.  In the championship match, they tied an all senior UAB team only to lose on a tiebreaker.  Along with Elizabeth Poulos, who competed in the Southeastern Regional Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl last fall, they have practiced all year for these competitions.  That meant two hours of practice a week, case preparation, and research.  They didn’t do that work alone.  Dr. Wilton Bunch and Dr. Mike Janas spent all semester coaching them through complex ethical cases.  These students are among our brightest Fellows, but that’s not what I’m most proud of.  They compete with dignity, grace, kindness, and sportsmanship.The world is better because of the dignity, grace, kindness, sportsmanship—and competence—of Samford students.

The world is better because of the dignity, grace, kindness, sportsmanship—and competence—of Samford students.