When Professor White created IBECC in 1996, he thought that an ethics event should consist of more than intellectual discussion. It should also aim to do some practical good in the world. Since he was a runner, he decided to hold the LMU 5K/10K Run for the Bay as a fund-raiser and to donate the proceeds to a local charity. To encourage IBECC teams to participate, he created an academic/athletic biathlon, in which teams’ performance in the presentation and in the run/jog/walk were combined. The biathlon was suspended when we began holding IBECC in conjunction with the annual conference of the Ethics & Compliance Officer Association instead of on the LMU campus, but we re-instituted it in 2016 and even had versions of it when we were online. We are pleased to bring back an in-person version of it this year.
This is an academic/athletic competition based on a team’s performance in the 25-minute presentation and the number of steps a team can log in 30 minutes either running, jogging or walking. Note that we use a complicated formula that gives teams of walkers as much a chance to win as team of runners, especially if they turn in a strong performance in the presentation and if everyone on the team participates. Click here for an explanation of the scoring. (Virtually every smart phone has a pedometer app built in or can easily download a free one.)
We hope that the biathlon encourages students to develop healthy habits early in life and appreciate the mind/body connection. Members of the top team will receive a prize, but, more importantly, the winning team will be able to designate a charity for a $500 donation from IBECC. As far as we know, IBECC is unique among ethics events in making a gift to a worthy charity.
Click here for a few words of encouragement from Annelle Kemp, a member of the team that won the first biathlon in 1996 and one of our 2022 judges.
Teams are able to do the run/job/walk portion of the biathlon before they arrive at IBECC. It will also be possible to do the run/jog/walk on athletic fields on the UMass Mount Ida campus (click here). On this campus map, you’ll see two red rectangles that are available to us for specified times: Alumni Field (turf, 9 to 12 on the 18th) and Trustee Field (grass, from 9 to 3 on the 18th and 9 to noon 12 on the 19th). The perimeter of either field measures about a quarter of a mile. Either way, you will have to fill out an entry form. You can download it here and fill it out ahead of time, or you can fill it out when you’re here. Entries close at noon on Friday the 19th.
