Shelton School presented its 18th Annual Ethics Symposium in late February.  High school students from five schools attended the day-long event, this year held at the Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center at The University of Texas Dallas, in partnership with UT Dallas’ Naveen Jindal School of Management.  Activities included guided discussions, small group exercises, and panel discussions with guest presenters.  Keynote speakers and panelists engaged students with lessons learned from real world professional experiences.  Each panelist came prepared with an ethical dilemma to share for dialogue with students. Also in attendance were students from UT Dallas’ Jindal School.

Bob Wright (founder, Social Venture Partners Dallas) gave the charge for the day, and keynote speaker was Chad Houser (founder / CEO, Café Momentum).   On the panel lineup were:  ETHICS AND BUSINESS / LAW – Christine Ashmore (Morgan Stanley), Ed Heffernan (Alliance Data), and Joe Hickman (Blue Star Land Services); ETHICS AND MEDIA – Kevin Cassidy (Entercom Dallas-Fort Worth), Diana Nelson (DallasChild), and Nicole Stockdale (Dallas Morning News); ETHICS AND RACE RELATIONS – Pastor Richie Butler (St. Paul United Methodist Church, Dallas), The Rev. Paul Rasmussen (Highland Park United Methodist Church, Dallas), and Lenny Vitullo (Fee, Smith, Shape and Vitullo). Zac Ladd, dean of students with Shelton’s high school, coordinated other activities led by Shelton ethics instructors.

Says Shelton executive director Suzanne Stell, “This event is evergreen and always timely in nature, and it inspires me to hear our youth engage with such depth and keen interest.  This day remains a favorite of mine each year.  We were particularly pleased to partner with UT Dallas this year, since we are close neighbors and each place an emphasis on ethics with our curriculum.” 

Alliance Data was a sponsor for the ethics symposium, as part of Shelton’s ongoing Leaders for Life series. Now in its 42^nd year, Shelton has had an ethics curriculum and program since 1997.