Constitution Day at Michigan Tech

September 17, 2008--Every American knows that our country was born on July 4, 1776. But it took another 11 years and two months—until September 17, 1787—for the US Constitution to be signed.

Michigan Tech, like colleges and universities across the nation, will commemorate that historic date this Wednesday, with Constitution Day events capped by a public program featuring Mary Bejian, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan (ACLU-MI).

Her topic is “Major Threats to the Constitution in 2008.” The program is scheduled for 7 pm Wednesday, September 17 in Dow 641, sponsored by the ACLU of Michigan student chapter at Michigan Tech.

Bejian also will speak at three Perspectives courses this week: Susann Peters’ Perspectives on the First Amendment, Bucky Beach’s Perspectives on “What Are People For” and Joel Tuoriniemi’s Perspectives on the Supreme Court.

Newly established last spring, the ACLU-MI student chapter at Tech and the Rock the Vote student initiative will also distribute pocket-size copies of the Constitution and Bill of Rights bookmarks and conduct voter registration on campus.

“The Constitution is the bedrock of our democratic form of government,” said Chris Allen Anderson, chair of the Michigan Tech chapter of the ACLU-MI. “That’s what defines us as a democracy, and Americans need to be familiar with it. If you don’t know your rights, how can you protect them?”

The J. Robert Van Pelt Library’s Information Wall will feature a large-screen, multi-media Constitution Day Exchibit. The Information Wall includes four display screens near the library entrance and one near the bridge to Rekhi Computer Science Hall.

This is the fourth Constitution Day since the observance was begun by federal mandate in 2005.

Michigan Technological University is a leading public research university, conducting research, developing new technologies and preparing students to create the future for a prosperous and sustainable world. Michigan Tech offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in engineering, forestry and environmental sciences, computing, technology, business and economics, natural and physical sciences, arts, humanities and social sciences.

Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to more than 7,000 students from 55 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan’s flagship technological university offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.