Campus News
By Luca Filigenzi, Local News Editor
Last week, the political science department hosted their third annual Constitution Day event celebrating the 237th anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution.
As a school receiving federal funding, Xavier University is required by the U.S. Department of Education to host an event for the purpose of educating students about the Constitution. The event was organized by the American Founding and Constitution program with assistance from the Jack Miller Center for Teaching America’s Founding Principles and History.
The event was prepared by Xavier political science professor Dr. Mack Mariani, who collaborated with faculty from both inside and outside of Xavier to make it possible, including Dr. Katie Robiadek, Assistant Professor at Xavier, Dr. Fred Franson, President of Huntington Junior College and Dr. Katie Bambrick, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame.
25 students were selected to celebrate the signing of the Constitution 237 years ago.
One of the professors aiding as a moderator and organizer was Xavier philosophy professor Dr. Steven Frankel.
“It’s important to understand the thought and deliberation behind the founding. If left unaware, we are at a disadvantage,” Frankel said.
25 Xavier students were invited to the event as “Constitution Day scholars,” four of whom had the distinction of being Constitution Day “fellows,” each student having a specific extra project to work on in relation to the event.
The first part of the two-day event began Monday, Sept. 16, in the Arrupe Overlook, where Dr. Bambrick gave a talk on Horizontal and Vertical rights, rights provided by the government and rights provided by fellow citizens.
Following that discussion, the participants of the event reconvened to discuss the agenda for the second day of the two-part event. In addition to the 25 Constitution Say scholars, the current sophomore Philosophy, Politics and the Public Civil Society and Government block was also invited to attend the second day of discussions.
At Constitution Day, students were able to ask questions to a group of panelists and learn more about the significance of the Constitution and the impact social media is having on politics.
The main event of day two began on Tuesday morning, when the students were split into two groups to hold discussions on the possible reasons for the Constitution’s longevity and the political impact of social media. Both groups also went over and discussed the purpose and modern value of The Federalist Papers, a series of essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay with the purpose of raising public support for the ratification of the Constitution.
“This event enriched my knowledge regarding fundamental principles concerning the Constitution,” Junior finance and economics double major Tony Kuebler said.
At the conclusion of the event a panel was held by the orchestrators of the event where they discussed how current political disagreements can sometimes devolve into viewing the other side as simply immoral and lacking respect.
The political science department expressed a desire to continue this tradition for years to come, honoring the U.S. Constitution every step of the way.
