Ambitious Student Conference to Focus on Ethics in Governance

The enthusiasm of Middlebury Institute students Alessandro Regio (MAIPS ’15) and Darina Burina (MAIPS ’15) for the upcoming conference on ethical governance that they have been working on with Terri Pugh (MAIPS ’15) and other students is immediately contagious. On March 26-27, an impressive set of leaders from the business world, academia, and local and national government will discuss the ethical dimensions of various current policy issues. Growing up in Italy (Alessandro) and Russia (Darina) gave the organizers a firsthand understanding of the injustices that can occur when standards of ethical governance are not observed. They are thankful to have the opportunity here in the U.S. to host an open discussion on this topic and the human costs of policy decisions.

Ambassador Lewis Lukens will kick off the conference on Thursday, March 26, followed by a series of sessions devoted to the following issues (click on individual topics for more information):

Digital Ethics

Ethics of Climate Geo Engineering

Drones; Strategy, Usage and Ethics

Responsibility to Lead: The Ethics of Governing

Jim Richards, executive vice president at Wells Fargo & Co., will give the closing address.

The student organizers felt strongly that ethics in governance is a topic that affects and belongs to everyone, and therefore chose not to charge for access to the conference. Participants are invited to attend as few or as many sessions as they would like, but are asked to sign up online for planning purposes. Their conference plan envisions a positive experience in every sense of the word, including following the recommendations of a sustainability guide for the conference created by Rachael Confair (MAIEP ’15).

For more information about the conference, visit the Students for Ethical Governance and Policymaking website.