Ethics can be defined as moral principles; leadership can be defined as a person or group guiding another. These words may be far apart in the dictionary, but they are closely related in that they are the values held by the St. Edward’s University Center for Ethics and Leadership.

The purpose of the Center for Ethics and Leadership is to uphold leadership and ethics beyond the organizations on campus by reaching out to the surrounding community. This year, the Center for Ethics and Leadership is hosting numerous interactive events to get students and staff involved in ongoing debates about world issues.

The first event this semester is a Fusion Discussion Group. Seven of these discussions will occur throughout the year, each debating works by different authors who discuss societal issues.

This first Fusion Discussion Group debated “Rule Breaker: When it comes to morality, the philosopher Patricia Churchland refuses to stand on principle” by Christopher Shea. The article poses many questions brought about by the philosopher and neuroscientist Patricia S. Churchland, who questions not only the origins of human values, but also how they attach themselves to the brain. Russell Frohardt, associate professor and chair of the psychology department at St. Edward’s, led the discussion group.

“Dr. Frohardt did a wonderful job of moderating the discussion and by giving the diverse group of attendees more technical understanding of neuroscience as it relates to the article,” said Kate Rosati, the administrative coordinator of the Center for Ethics and Leadership.

Taking a break from the discussions is American Council on Education (ACE) on the Hill, an event co-sponsored by the Center for Teaching Excellence along with the Center for Ethics and Leadership. Frohardt will host the event and discuss his experiences this past year with the ACE Fellows program, which selects interns seeking to be trained in administration.

Frohardt will also share with students and faculty his experiences acting as a mentor. At the end, a discussion will be opened to debate the ethical challenges for training people for administrative positions along with the challenges faced by higher education.

Ethical challenges are also evident in places other than philosophy and education. They can be found in intellectual property laws. Mark Bradley Wilson, a partner at The International Law Firm of Fulbright and Jaworski, will hold an event discussing the challenges of intellectual property laws. Wilson will be addressing the many ethical challenges found in intellectual property law, focusing on patent, prosecution and enforcement.

The fifth annual Passion and Civility Debate Tournament is set to take place in 2012. For this annual event, Campus Ministry will be partnering with the Center for Ethics and Leadership to hold a debate tournament for students. The debates will cover numerous current events as well as political hot topics for those with prior debate experience or preparation prior to the event.

A past winner, senior Marett Hanes, said she kept up with current events before the tournament.

“Other than that, I didn’t do any preparation because you have no idea what you will be debating until you get in the room and you have five minutes to prepare,” Hanes said.

For more information regarding the event schedule for the Center for Ethics and Leadership visit their website http://think.stedwards.edu/ethics.