ADP Campuses Commemorate Constitution Day 2016

Constitution Day 2016 | Learning & Engaging the ADP Way

ADP campuses commemorate Constitution Day as a way to spur student to think more deeply, to consider opposing perspectives, to act and to wrestle with complex issues facing our communities and democratic institutions. We hope you take the time to peruse the 2016 Constitution Day offerings of just some of our ADP campuses. They’ve been busy registering new voters and discussing infringements on voter rights. They are urging their communities to focus on race, racism and other inequalities and social injustices that persist in our country. We encourage you to do the same today and every day.

Learn more about Constitution Day here.

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Emporia State University (Kan.)
Emporia State University students involved in the American Democracy Project are writing editorials on the U.S. Constitution, democracy and related topics for the local paper, the Emporia Gazette, in advance of Constitution Day, which is Sept. 17th. Read one of the op-eds by first-year student Emma Krause here. 

Illinois State University
Robin Fretwell Wilson, the Roger and Stephany Joslin Professor of Law and the director of the Program in Family Law and Policy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign., will deliver the annual Constitution Day talk at Illinois State University. Her lecture, “Can the Constitution Protect Both LGBT Rights and Religious Liberty?” will be at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, September 15, in the Old Main Room of the Bone Student Center. The talk, sponsored by the Illinois State chapter of the American Democracy Project, is free and open to the public. Read more here.

Indiana University South Bend
IUSB’s ADP and Political Science Club co-sponsored Constitution Day celebrations on campus with music, mini Constitutions and voter registration efforts. Learn more here.

Middle Tennessee State University
Diane Nash, a civil rights activist who helped integrate Nashville lunch counters in 1960 and desegregate bus travel, spoke on Sept. 14^th at NTSU’s Constitution Day celebration. She advised students to work on issues that move them. Other events included readings of the U.S. Constitution and voter registration efforts. Learn more here.

Stockton University (N.J.)
Stockton University’s ADP/PEP with other campus partners will host Akhil Reed Amar, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University for Constitution Day. Amar’s presentation, “The Supreme Court and the Constitution: What’s at Stake in the 2016 Election?” will focus on the impact of the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, the stalled nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, current constitutional controversies and the potential effects on the Supreme Court. Constitution Day is one of a series of events at Stockton that will include voter registration efforts, a panel discussion with Stockton students who attended the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, debate-watching parties, and other lectures on history, politics and elections. Read more here.

University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
UW Oshkosh’s Constitution Day activities included a presentation by Keith Findley, assistant professor of University of Wisconsin Law School and co-director of the Wisconsin Innocence Project. Information on the U.S. Constitution was also on display and available for pickup.  More information about the American Democracy Project and Constitution Day events is available at http://adp.uwosh.edu/constitution-day. You’ll find more information here.

Western Carolina University (N.C.) 
Western Carolina University invites student contestants to present a potential constitutional amendment (what they would add or change to the current Constitution), discuss why their issue is important, and justify why their constitutional amendment is needed.  The contestants will then answer questions about their amendment from our judges (5 minutes max).  A panel of judges will select the top 3 amendments based on the importance of the issue, how well founded and researched the amendment is, and the quality of the presentation.  The top 3 contestants will earn a $50 Visa Gift Card. WCU is also planning debate watch events and voter registration drives this fall.

Western Kentucky University
WKU’s Constitution Week 2016 Celebration focused on individual rights and protections with four main sessions: 1) an interactive talk on Trans-bathroom Laws, Title IX, Equal Protection and Separation of Powers; 2) Pizza and Politics series; 3) a global citizen fair with study abroad; and 4) a Constitution birthday part with voter registration. Learn more here.

Let us know what your campus did to commemorate Constitution Day 2016 in the comments or by emailing adp@aascu.org!