Constitution Day commemorates the formation and signing of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787. Each year schools, civic organizations and government agencies across the country mark this day with a celebration of the Constitution and the basic rights it affords all American citizens.
For this year’s Constitution Day celebration at Saint Peter’s, the Guarini Institute for Government and Leadership provided students, faculty and staff with the opportunity to exercise some of their most treasured constitutional rights including the right to religious freedom, the right to assemble and the right to vote.
The day commenced with celebration of religious freedom with a breakfast and an Ignatian Examen in the Office of Campus Ministry.
To honor the constitutional right to vote, Project Vote, a student organization, led a campus wide voter registration drive throughout the day, where they distributed registration forms and informed others about the voting process.
In commemoration of the right to assemble, the day continued with a keynote speech featuring Chief Justice Deborah T. Poritz. In honor of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gave women the right to vote, Chief Justice Poritz shared her personal story of how her achievements broke glass ceilings for many women as she was the first woman in New Jersey to serve as chief counsel to the Governor, as attorney general and as chief justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. Read more about Justice Poritz’s keynote address from The Pauw Wow.
The celebrations concluded with lunch in The Duncan Family Sky Room, where attendees received pocket Constitutions.
The Guarini Institute for Government and Leadership was established in 1994 by Congressman Frank Guarini H ’94 and aims to provide a non-partisan forum for discussion of key public policy issues. The Institute sponsors lectures and programs throughout the academic year to promote critical thinking, debate and careers in public service. For more information about Guarini events, click here.
