In compliance with a federal law enacted early this year, Georgetown and other universities nationwide are preparing to commemorate the signing of the U.S. Constitution in the next two weeks.
University officials say they plan to distribute copies of the Constitution to students during the Student Activities Commission Fair, which will be held – conveniently – on Constitution Day, Sept. 17, marking the day of the founding document’s signing in 1787.
The university also plans to open one of its constitutional law classes to the entire university community and has invited the sponsor of the new law, Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), to speak on campus. The dates of these events have not yet been finalized, pending a response from Byrd’s office, administrators said.
“We’re still a bit flexible in our plans in case Senator Byrd is able to speak on campus,” university spokeswoman Julie Bataille said. “Given Georgetown’s own history of being founded the same year the Constitution took effect, this is an opportunity to engage students and the Georgetown community about the significance of this document from several perspectives.”
Scott Fleming, university assistant to the president for federal relations, also said that Georgetown saw the federal mandate, which some higher education groups have criticized as an unwarranted intrusion on college curricula, as an opportunity.
“We could have just opened a class and we would have complied,” Fleming said. “We have, instead, decided . that we’ll do something good with it.”
Fleming said the Office of Federal Relations will distribute the copies of the Constitution at its SAC Fair table, where students typically receive information about government internships in the D.C. area. The law will give the university an opportunity to highlight its strengths in government, history and constitutional law, Fleming added.
“To us, it was a natural building on what we already do as an institution,” he said.
Other universities in the area are also taking steps to comply with the new requirement. George Washington University is planning a speaker event to coincide with Constitution Day, and American University will hold a symposium on free speech and the Constitution on Sept. 22.
“We saw it as an opportunity to teach students,” American spokeswoman Maralee Csellar said. “We are going to discuss intellectual diversity in learning and teaching, and directly linking this topic to elements of freedom of speech as expressed in the Constitution.”
Two professors will join Nat Hentoff, a prominent civil libertarian and columnist, to conduct the symposium, Csellar added.
In a statement, Byrd said that requiring schools to commemorate the Constitution was necessary to sustain historical appreciation for the document among the nation’s youth.
“While our educational system is good at ingraining feelings of respect and reverence for our Constitution, that same system is in need of great improvements in teaching what is actually in the Constitution and just why it is so important to our daily lives,” Byrd said.
“Only with a thorough knowledge of history can we ever expect our people to appreciate the gift of the Framers or the experience and the struggles going back centuries which combined to make us free.”
The law also requires that federal agencies provide information about the Constitution to all new employees.