Dr. Golam M. Mathbor, Associate Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences and a professor in the School of Social Work at the University, was selected to serve as mentor for the 26th annual National Conference on Ethics in America (NCEA).
“Dr. Golam Mathbor was selected as mentor because of his exceptional ability to facilitate discussion and promote ethical awareness,” remarked Lieutenant Colonel Michael Turner, Ph.D., Deputy Director of Simon Center for Professional Military Ethic.
The conference, held on October 16 to 20, was hosted by The Simon Center for the Professional Military Ethic and sponsored by the West Point Class of 1970 at the United States Military Academy (USMA) in West Point, New York. The NCEA is a three-day conference involving approximately 180 undergraduate students from over 90 academic institutions and the nation’s service academies. The purpose of the conference is to promote the importance of integrity and ethical conduct in our collegiate, public, and professional communities. Its theme was “Serving with Integrity.”
College student delegates, under the guidance of their group mentors, discussed topics raised by plenary speakers. Mentors guided groups in discussions encouraging a respectful exchange of ideas and their rationale. The mentors introduced delegates to the decision-making methodology while allowing them to explore ethical challenges raised by the speakers.
Mathbor selected two student delegates from the University to participate in this prestigious NCEA event at USMA in consultation with Student Services Vice President MaryAnne Nagy. They were Aziz Mama, a junior accounting major, and Lori Mueller, another junior majoring in psychology and criminal justice.
“It was my great pleasure to be able to represent the University,” Mama said. “I would like to thank the University as well as the West Point graduating Class of 1970 for providing me with this unique experience of being able to take part in such a select conference with 180 other people from 90 different academic institutions. It was an extremely thought provoking conference which gave me greater insight into the difficult yet vitally important issue of leadership and ethics.”
“The NCEA was a once in a lifetime opportunity as well as a four day life changing experience,” Mueller said. “The number one question asked by plenary speakers, mentors, delegates and cadets was ‘What will you take away from this experience?’ In order to truly answer that question, it would take pages upon pages of discussions, opinions and questions; or, it could take one simple quote. ‘Live your life so that when your friends ever think about fairness and integrity, they think about you,’ as stated by retired Captain Mark Adamshick during his speech which opened the conference. This is just one of many memorable quotes throughout the conference that changed many delegates’ ways of thinking.”
