The Living, Breathing U.S. Constitution

Observing Constitution Day 2010


For three days this month, the Blagg-Huey library at TWU was a veritable hotbed of free speech activity.

From September 13th through the 15th, in conjunction with Constitution Day (or Citizenship Day as it is also known) and as part of TWU’s Civic Agency Initiative involvement, "free speech boards" were set up in the presentation area of the Blagg-Huey Library (as well as at two other sites on the Denton campus).

The Democracy Shout Out, as the event was billed, featured multiple boards with questions and topics that rotated over the course of the three days. TWU students and members of the community were able to share their views and opinions on a wide variety of issues relating to TWU, the community and the country--from the war in Iraq to a tuition increase to immigration. Over 3,5oo responses were collected between the three sites involved.

"We want our students to know that the U.S. Constitution is a living, breathing document, not just a history lesson," said Leslie Lindsey, a TWU graduate student in history and member of the TWU Constitution Day planning committee. "The Democracy Shout Out allow(ed) students the opportunity to exercise their free speech and to find out what their peers care about.”
TWU was one of 16 universities in the U.S. (and the only one in Texas) selected to participate in the American Democracy Project’s Civic Agency Initiative sponsored by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.

Constitution Day is an American national observance
that recognizes the ratification of the United States Constitution and those who have become U.S. citizens. It is observed on September 17th, the anniversary of the date in 1787 on which delegates from 12 states attending a convention in Philadelphia signed a document stating their intention to "form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity."

That document, having been ratified by nine states, became the Constitution of the United States of America in 1789--and remains to this day the country's supreme law of the land.


--Submitted by Sandy Cochran. Special thanks to Greg Hardin for technical assistance with this post.