Our combined academic/athletic biathlon is IBECC’s most distinctive feature. We plan to hold this in 2022 using a 3-mile run/jog time trial you do on your own and report the results to us. Please check back for details.
Background
When Professor White came up with the idea for having an ethics case competition, he felt it was important for us to try to do some tangible good in the world, rather than simply talk about ethics. Since he is a runner, he knew that a community 5K/10K run would be a good vehicle for this. Accordingly, we launched the “LMU 5K/10K Run for the Bay” and donated the proceeds to the Los Angeles environmental organization, Heal the Bay. In order to encourage students to be involved, we created an optional competition, in which half the team’s score would come from their major presentation and half from the team’s run/jog/walk performance in the race. We hoped that in the course of training for the run, students would appreciate the connection between mind and body. We also hoped this would encourage them to develop healthy habits early in life, and, in addition, to have some fun in connection with an otherwise stressful academic competition.
Unfortunately, when IBECC left the LMU campus in 2008 and began being held in different cities in conjunction with the annual conference of the Ethics & Compliance Officer Association, we had to suspend the biathlon. We re-established it in 2016, however, using a time-trial format, rather than a community race.
In 2016, we donated the proceeds to the Hopkinton (MA) Arts Center. In 2017 and 2018, our beneficiary was The School of Choice / L’Ecole de Choix. This is a high quality elementary school in Haiti providing leadership development education to children in extreme conditions of poverty. This is an appropriate recipient not only because it is a school in a poor country for students who can’t afford to attend otherwise, but Laura Hartman, the current Executive Director and one of the school’s founders, is a well-known business ethics expert.
In 2022, members of the winning team will not only receive an award, they will earn the honor of designating a charity that will receive a $500 donation made in their name.