Tippie students Paul Eikenberry and Isabelle Wilcox’s essay took first place at the 2022 Collegiate Eller Ethics Case Competition. They also won second place overall in the case competition. They will both receive a new laptop for their case competition placement and $100 each for the essay contest win.
The team of Tippie students—Eikenberry, Wilcox, and Gabrielle Kilpatrick, who served as an alternate and provided important research support to the team—traveled to Tucson, Ariz. to compete in the 20th annual case competition at the University of Arizona Eller College of Management. Hosted by the Center for Leadership Ethics at Arizona, the competition is designed to help students understand the importance of corporate social responsibility.
The case this year asked students to assume the role of financial consultants advising the senior leadership of a non-profit university foundation whether they should invest university endowment funds into cryptocurrency. The evaluation and recommendations needed to account for stakeholder, economic, legal, and ethical considerations. The panel of judges included University of Arizona faculty, executives from companies such as 3M and Hewlett-Packard, and Tucson-local business owners.
“Our team impressed the judges with the depth of their research and ethical reasoning, as well as the poise and confidence they displayed during their presentation,” said Frank Business Communication Center Assistant Director Meredith Ringel-Ensley, who accompanied the student team to Arizona.
Other finalists included teams from Washington University, Concordia, Indiana, and Simon Fraser. This is the third top five finish by a Tippie team and second essay win in the last five years of competition, bolstering the University of Iowa’s already strong reputation as a top writing school.