2008 Woodie Awards
Colleges plan Constitution Day programming or forfeit funding
Trent Orris
Issue date: 9/15/05 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
In celebration of Constitution Day, Kirkwood will present a day of discussion and debate on the U.S. Constitution on Friday. Sessions will be held on the main campus in Cedar Rapids and a final session at the Iowa City campus.
The program director for the event is David McMahon, an associate professor of history at the Kirkwood Campus in Iowa City.
"The point is to have a day-long conversation about politics," said McMahon. "We can look back at the election and forward to how the nation moves forward and have more understanding of our constitution and our democracy."
Sen. Robert Byrd, D- W. Va., added an amendment in the 2004 reauthorization of the U.S. Department of Education requiring all colleges and universities that receive federal funds to provide an educational forum on the U.S. Constitution on or near Sept. 17 each year. That day marks the anniversary of the signing of the original Constitution in 1787.
McMahon, though, does not view the mandate as a burden.
"It is true about the funding being pulled if we didn't do something," McMahon stated. "A lot of other colleges are scrambling to put something together but we have been planning for months and Kirkwood is ready.
We looked at it as a learning opportunity, not as something we must do begrudgingly. The nation has a responsibility to educate its citizens and we are anxious to use our resources."
Kirkwood's Constitution Day events will include discussion forums and presentations by Kirkwood professors, authors and invited scholars.
Topics will include a look back at the 2004 U.S. presidential election from multiple perspectives, conservatism and liberalism in modern life and the conflicting roles of religion in the nation's political discourse.
"One of my favorite quotes," McMahon said, "is by Thomas Jefferson, who said, 'If you expect a nation to be ignorant and free, you expect what never was and can never be.'"
The public is invited to attend the events at both the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Kirkwood campuses. Cedar Rapids events are in Iowa Hall from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the Iowa City forums are in the Campus Commons from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. The symposium is designed for conversation and interaction with the audience and is free and open to the public.
"I would really encourage students to participate," said McMahon. "People at all interested in politics should attend, listen, engage in conversation and learn more about politics and our own professors and, informally, the guest speakers."
A complete schedule, forum topics and biographies of the guest scholars are available via the Internet at: http://faculty.kirkwood.edu/lyost/Constitution%20Day%20Symposium/Constitution_Day_2.html
The program director for the event is David McMahon, an associate professor of history at the Kirkwood Campus in Iowa City.
"The point is to have a day-long conversation about politics," said McMahon. "We can look back at the election and forward to how the nation moves forward and have more understanding of our constitution and our democracy."
Sen. Robert Byrd, D- W. Va., added an amendment in the 2004 reauthorization of the U.S. Department of Education requiring all colleges and universities that receive federal funds to provide an educational forum on the U.S. Constitution on or near Sept. 17 each year. That day marks the anniversary of the signing of the original Constitution in 1787.
McMahon, though, does not view the mandate as a burden.
"It is true about the funding being pulled if we didn't do something," McMahon stated. "A lot of other colleges are scrambling to put something together but we have been planning for months and Kirkwood is ready.
We looked at it as a learning opportunity, not as something we must do begrudgingly. The nation has a responsibility to educate its citizens and we are anxious to use our resources."
Kirkwood's Constitution Day events will include discussion forums and presentations by Kirkwood professors, authors and invited scholars.
Topics will include a look back at the 2004 U.S. presidential election from multiple perspectives, conservatism and liberalism in modern life and the conflicting roles of religion in the nation's political discourse.
"One of my favorite quotes," McMahon said, "is by Thomas Jefferson, who said, 'If you expect a nation to be ignorant and free, you expect what never was and can never be.'"
The public is invited to attend the events at both the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Kirkwood campuses. Cedar Rapids events are in Iowa Hall from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the Iowa City forums are in the Campus Commons from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. The symposium is designed for conversation and interaction with the audience and is free and open to the public.
"I would really encourage students to participate," said McMahon. "People at all interested in politics should attend, listen, engage in conversation and learn more about politics and our own professors and, informally, the guest speakers."
A complete schedule, forum topics and biographies of the guest scholars are available via the Internet at: http://faculty.kirkwood.edu/lyost/Constitution%20Day%20Symposium/Constitution_Day_2.html