By Lois Yeater ’22, staff writer

The majority of people will graduate from college and get a job right away, but what happens when they get into a situation where they must make a big decision? Some people might make a decision that is not ethically sound and that can cause a lot of problems.

So, what do we do to fix what people learn about ethics in college?

For starters, we could add an ethics class into the Constellation program, so then everyone will be taking steps towards being ethical people. If they add this class to the Constellation program, some employers may prefer LVC students over other applicants.

I will admit I thought that taking an ethics class would not be helpful, because personally, I thought my ideas were ethically sound. I am not saying that I am not ethically sound, but it was an eye-opening class that was presented.

As students, we sometimes think we know more than we really do, but an ethics class would be helpful to all students in a professional way. By presenting it as a professional development class, students would learn leadership skills and other necessary skills for going into the workplace.

An ethics class would not be a class where students would have to hide behind their opinions, it would be a class where discussion is key. They would get the chance to understand their opinions and understand the reasons behind their opinions while discussing freely with their peers.

While some majors are more likely to have ethics taught to them, it is important that all students take an ethics course.

The Constellation program wants LVC students to, “Develop skills to move forward in your career and make a difference in the world.” One way for students to do this is by having reasons for why we think the way we think.

The Constellation curriculum also includes skills such as critical thinking, written communication, intercultural competence, quantitative reasoning, applied knowledge and the ability to solve complex problems. An ethics course hits all these marks for students and would be beneficial for every major.  

As students, we would be able to take our knowledge from the ethics course and truly go out into the world and make a difference.

So why hasn’t an ethics course been made mandatory for all students, yet?