Greenhills Ethics Bowl Team Shines on National Stage

After a storybook run through the Michigan State Ethics Bowl and a dramatic victory over Chicago in the regional playoff, the Greenhills Blue Squad earned a coveted spot at the 2025 National High School Ethics Bowl, hosted by the Parr Center for Ethics at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

The team consisting of seniors Sam Siegel, Lauren Sheffield, and Mason Stranahan, junior Aiofe Tang, and ninth grader Saroya Shea hit the ground running in Chapel Hill, winning tightly contested rounds against Edwardsville High School and Masterman High School. Their early success placed them fifth overall heading into the second half of the competition.

With just one more win needed to reach the quarterfinals, the team remained hopeful. But a narrow 2–1 decision and a hard-fought loss in round four left them just outside the bracket, eliminated by only the slimmest of margins. Notably, both of their final-round opponents went on to qualify.

More important than the final standings, however, was how they competed.

“The team performed brilliantly in each round,” said coach Mark Randolph. “Our students demonstrated their sophisticated understanding of various ethical frameworks, significant intellectual acumen and acuity under pressure, a deeply felt commitment to team work, and most importantly, fidelity to their own unique and wonderful voices (a trait often lost by teams focused solely on winning).”

Asked to sum up the experience, Randolph added: “We prepared carefully, we invested in one another completely, and we performed brilliantly. There is no shame in our game.”

With a deep bench of committed, ethical thinkers, Greenhills looks poised to return as a force in next year’s Ethics Bowl season. That’s good news for the school, and for anyone who believes in the power of respectful, reasoned dialogue.