Rights For All: Conversations on Plymouth State Campus

C riminal Justice majors at Plymouth State University have the United States Constitution embedded in their curriculum. Most other students have learned at least the basics in high school, or in some college General Education courses. There is an overwhelmingly large amount of media across the internet that highlights Americans’ limited knowledge of the Constitution, and young adults are more often on the receiving end of this banter. Schools all over the country are encouraged to observe Constitution Day each year on September 17th to provide opportunities for learning outside of the classrooms and develop understanding of the Constitution.

Faculty members Dr. David Harold Zehr, Gail Mears, Marcia Blaine, Matt Curtis, and Stephanie Halter have organized a series of events on campus in collaboration with the Hartman Union Building staff to educate students and encourage them to reflect on how a historical document can impact us all 223 years later. Continuing everyday conversations that connect back to the Constitution is the purpose of this annual event, and student volunteers will be recruited to run booths in the HUB and Prospect Dining Hall to listen as fellow peers share thoughts about the Constitution in exchange for a coffee token.

Dr. Daniel Feller, Editor/Director of The Papers of Andrew Jackson at the University of Tennessee, has been invited to PSU’s Fall 2017 Saul O Sidore Lecture Series to speak about the impact of Andrew Jackson’s presidency on presidential power on Monday, September 18 in the Smith Recital Hall at 7pm. As Plymouth State students walk the campus in the coming week, there will be ample opportunity to pause and have relevant, informal conversations centered on the ways the U.S. Constitution impacts us each day.