SIUC to observe Constitution Day on Monday

SIUC hosts a variety of events on Monday, Sept. 17, to mark Constitution Day.

The day commemorates when delegates to the Philadelphia Convention completed and signed the Constitution — Sept. 17, 1787.

All events are free and open to the public.

A panel discussion at the SIU School of Law entitled, "Comparative Constitutional Conversations," will examine the Constitution, how it has inspired constitutions of other nations, and differences in the various documents. The panel will look at constitutions from Cuba, Ireland, China, Lithuania and South Africa, said associate law professor Cindy Buys, who is one of the panelists.

The panel discussion is from noon to 1 p.m., Monday in the law school courtroom. Other faculty panelists are associate law professor Patricia Ross McCubbin, and law professor Paul E. McGreal. Also on the panel are second-year law student Gino Betts, and third-year law student Tionn Fambro, both of whom were in South Africa this summer.

A series of Public Broadcasting Service programs on the U.S. Supreme Court will be shown during the day in the law school auditorium. PBS aired the programs earlier this year.

The schedule is:

• 9 to 10 a.m. — "One Nation Under Law."
• 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. — "A New Kind of Justice."
• 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. — "A Nation of Liberties."
• 3 to 4 p.m. — "The Rehnquist Revolution."

Also on Monday, the political science department and the College of Liberal Arts will present two showings of a two-part video examining the basic tenets of the Constitution in Faner Hall, room 3075. Part I runs from 9 to 10 a.m., part II runs from 10 to 11 a.m. Part I of the video will run again from 3 to 4 p.m., part II runs from 4 to 5 p.m.

All educational institutions funded with federal money must annually deliver programs on the U.S. Constitution in September.

- Pete Rosenbery