As part of the campus celebration of Constitution Day, Professor Joseph Mannard of the History Department dressed in Colonial garb for the public reading of the U.S. Constitution. Scores of students and faculty members lined up in front of Stapleton Library to read a portion of the Constitution. The Political Science Department and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences sponsored the day’s events, which also included a presentation called “A Casual Conversation with the Framers of the U.S. Constitution,” featuring four of the Constitution’s authors–James Madison, Ben Franklin, Charles Pinckney, and Alexander Hamilton, portrayed by Mannard, David Chambers, Mac Fiddner, and Steven Jackson.

“The commemoration of Constitution Day provides an ideal opportunity to take a closer look at how our government is structured and what powers it does or doesn’t have,” said Gwen Torges of the Political Science Department. “In the past, these events have generated a surprising level of interest and discussion about just what the Founding Fathers were thinking and what they hoped to achieve in writing the Constitution.”

Constitution Day commemorates the September 17, 1787, signing of the U.S. Constitution.