Constitution Day events scheduled at Penn State campuses

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Members of the Penn State and local communities are invited to celebrate Constitution Day with on-campus events at University Park on Monday, Sept. 17, as well as activities at a number of Penn State campuses.

This year’s event at University Park, titled “Emoluments and More,” suggests that while specific parts of the U.S. Constitution may be at the top of the news cycle on any given day, the entire document is worth the University’s and community’s attention every day, said Rosa Eberly, associate professor in the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences.

About 50 students from CAS 222N and CIVCM 211N classes will present posters on a variety of topics related to the Constitution from 2 to 4 p.m. Sept. 17 in Rooms 232 A and B in the HUB-Robeson Center at University Park. Attendees also will be able to receive a complimentary pocket Constitution. Community members should note there is limited paid parking in the HUB parking lot.

In addition to the poster session, Department of Communication Arts and Sciences faculty and graduate students will provide thinking prompts to get members of the community thinking about, talking about, and engaging with the Constitution, Eberly said. Prompts will be posted on the CIVCM website on Sept. 10.

“The purpose of both the poster event and the prompts on the website is to generate conversation about the United States’ constitutive document — its history, its virtues, its flaws, and its manifold current exigences,” Eberly said.

The Office of the Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses also announced events at a number of Penn State locations.

Abington

Sept. 17

• Video Presentation, “America’s Constitution: Progress & Promise,” key components of the U.S. Constitution (things you should know), pressing issues constitutional issues of our time — justice, equality, the right to vote, citizenship and inclusion, your role in making America “a more perfect Union.” Pizza and drinks provided.
• Continued voter registration

Altoona

Sept. 17 through Oct. 8

Voter registration drive, including tabling, visiting classrooms and attending student organization meetings and drop-in opportunities in Student Affairs office.

Sept. 17

Distribution of U.S. Constitutions (pocket size) and a constitution quiz with prizes.

Sept. 30

Student bus trip to Flight 93 Memorial.

Beaver

Sept. 17

• Constitution and Register to Vote Day — students are invited to stop by the Brodhead Bistro to learn about the Constitution. Students will receive a free pocket-size copy of the U.S. Constitution.
• ​Students are invited to meet the representatives from the Student Government Association, and SGA will have voter registration materials available for the upcoming election.

Berks

Sept. 10 to 14

Voter registration is being sponsored during first-year seminar Library Check-In Week.

Sept. 17

• Voter registration is being sponsored by the "My Vote Matters" campaign student group.
• Jonathan K. Del Collo, prothonotary of Berks County, will speak during the common hour.

Brandywine

Sept. 17

• Voter registration drive.
• Postcard writing station (with Laura Guertin) that will focus on federal, state and local issues.
• Opportunity for students to respond to prompts related to the Bill of Rights on large whiteboards at the entrance of the library.
• Students invited to film short clips in the one-button studio that will focus on why this election matters to them (will be used in a campus Get out the Vote PSA).
• Curation of a selection of books and materials related to the U.S. Constitution.

DuBois

Sept. 17

Voter registration during the common hour.

Sept. 18

Constitution Day Jeopardy event for students during common hour.

Erie

Sept. 17

• From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., tables will be set up in the lobby of the Reed Building outside of Bruno’s Café. Tables will be staffed by the Student Government Association and one table will be staffed by the Lion Entertainment Board. Guests may include state Rep. Curt Sonney, Behrend alumni and Harborcreek School Board member Justin Gallagher, and/or members of the Harborcreek Township Board of Supervisors.
• Additionally, the following student activities are planned to occur at the tables: the Preamble and “I’m just a Bill” from the old “School House Rock” will be displayed on the digital signage; students may answer trivia questions regarding the Constitution and receive prizes; flag-themed cookies; a giant version of the Constitution will be displayed, where people can add their signature to the bottom.
• Russ Hall, reference and instruction librarian at Penn State Behrend, will coordinate the activities of the library. These will include the distribution of pocket Constitutions, as well as a live reading of the Constitution for approximately an hour to an hour and a half in Ben Lane Plaza. Although some library and other faculty/staff will be available to read, students will also be invited to read parts of the Constitution for about five minutes at a time. In case of inclement weather, this will occur in the Reed Lobby outside Bruno’s Café.  Jane Ingold will also coordinate a Constitution Day display in the Lilley Library.
• Students involved in Penn State Behrend’s Civic and Community Engagement service-learning program will partner with the Soldiers and Sailors Home in Erie to celebrate Constitution Day. As part of this collaboration, students will create a poster to be displayed at either the Soldier and Sailor’s Home or the Wesleyville VFW. The poster will include images and biographical details about the nine Constitution signers from Pennsylvania. Additionally, the students and residents of the Soldiers and Sailors Home and the VFW will compete in a Constitution trivia game, followed by a spaghetti dinner.
• As part of the Big Ten Voting Challenge, at each of the tables in the Reed Lobby, the SGA and LEB will be distributing and collecting up to 2,000 voter registration forms to interested student citizens.

Fayette

Week of Sept. 17

• Students will receive an email via the student listserv with 20 questions concerning the U.S. Constitution. Those who answer all the questions correctly and submit them to the Student Affairs Office are entered into a drawing for a $50 bookstore gift card.  
• Students will have the opportunity to receive a pocket-sized U.S. Constitution compliments of the Student Affairs Office.  
• The Student Center Cafeteria, Library, and Williams Building Student Center will have table tents displayed concerning facts about the U.S. Constitution.
• Red, White and Blue Day – Students who wear red, white and blue on Friday, Sept. 15, will be entered in a drawing for a $25 bookstore gift card.

Greater Allegheny

Sept. 17

• Voter registration drive will be sponsored by the Student Government Association.
• Constitution information will be shared through the campus-provided iPads. Student will be scanning various QR codes across campus that highlight information on the Constitution.
• Constitution day information will be shared on campus screen during the common hour.

Great Valley

During week of Sept. 17

• Penn State Great Valley will be promoting information about Constitution Day as found at http://constitutioncenter.org/constitution-day/. Students will be able to pick up pocket-sized Constitutions before class during the week of Sept. 17.

Harrisburg

Sept. 17

• The Penn State Harrisburg School of Humanities will welcome 200 students from Milton Hershey School for a Constitution Day celebration from 9:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. Students will receive a lecture by David Witwer, professor of history and American studies. There will be Constitution quizzes and prizes, and a reading of the Constitution by faculty and students. Lunch and snacks will be provided.
• The Office of Student Life at Penn State Harrisburg has planned to commemorate Constitution Day by passing out pocket Constitutions from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and showing a video on the importance and key concepts of the U.S. Constitution.

Hazleton

Sept. 17

• From 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. there will be a Student Government Association meet and greet, voter registration, and daylong social media Constitution contests.

Sept. 18

• Voter Registration from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Highacres Café and Butler TLRC.

Sept. 19

• Bill of Rights Bingo, 7 p.m., Highacres Café.
• Voter Registration 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Highacres Café and Butler TLRC.

Sept. 20

• First Student Government Association General Assembly meeting of the academic year, 12:15 p.m., Butler Seminar Room.
• Design and display patriotic wreaths, during the day on the Campus Mall.
• Voter Registration from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Highacres Café and Butler TLRC.

Sept. 21

• Town Hall Wall: A bulletin board will be set up in Butler TLRC all day asking Penn State Hazleton community members to answer on a Post-it note what the next amendment to the Constitution should be.
• Voter Registration 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Highacres Café and Butler TLRC.

Sept. 22

• Trip to Philadelphia National Constitution Center.

Lehigh Valley

Sept. 17

• Distribution of pocket Constitutions in Centre Hall.
• Prize wheel for correctly answered questions about the Constitution.

Mont Alto

Sept. 17 12:20 p.m. to 1:10 p.m.

• Campus Symposium: The Constitution: “Is your cellphone data yours?”
• SGA will also distribute pocket U.S. Constitution booklets at the program.
• SGA will be tabling to encourage voter registration in support of the Big Ten voting challenge.
• Mobile voter registration bulletin board display on campus from Sept. 4 to Oct. 9.

New Kensington

Sept. 17

• Constitution Trivia: Students will test their knowledge of the Constitution by participating in a trivia contest.
• Constitution Creation Activity: Students can add their own lines in the creation of a “Campus Constitution” via a big poster. Participants will then sign it. SGA will monitor the activity.
• Big Ten Voter Registration Challenge: Students will be encouraged to register to vote by being provided with information and details on how to register, including information on absentee ballots, why it’s important to vote, and how their voice matters in all elections.  Mini flyers with information will be passed out. A laptop connected to voter registration sites online will be available.
• Pocket-sized U..S Constitution booklets will be given out.
• Project Flag Folding (community service event).

Schuylkill

Sept. 17

• The movie “In Search of Liberty” will be shown from noon to 2 p.m. in Classroom Building 101. There also will be a Constitution trivia contest after the movie where students can win prizes.

Scranton

Sept. 17

• There will be a Constitution display in the View Café. The event includes free pocket Constitution booklets, cake with the Constitution pictured, video of "School House Rock" on display, campus social media events, and voter registration throughout the week.

Shenango

Sept. 17

• Faculty member Phil Nash will do a campus-wide presentation about the U.S. Constitution during the common hour in the Great Hall (student union).
• A Constitution trivia game will once again be placed all around campus.
• A poll will be placed outside the Student Affairs office asking students to vote on which amendment is more important to them: the First Amendment or Second Amendment.

University Park

Sept. 17

• CAS 222N and CIVCM 211N classes will present posters on a variety of topics related to the Constitution from 2 to 4 p.m. in Rooms 232 A and B in the HUB-Robeson Center. Free pocket Constitutions will be available.

Sept. 18

• A Constitution Day lecture is scheduled from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Sept. 18 at 114 Katz Building at University Park, featuring Atiba Ellis, professor of law at Marquette University, speaking on “Integrity, Equality, and the Fragility of the Right to Vote.”

Wilkes-Barre

Sept. 17 to 30

• Library display that will highlight the rights in the Bill of Rights and the amendments that have been added over the years. There will be free copies of the Constitution available for students in the library lobby.

Sept. 17

• Showing of the film “The Constitution” along with a facilitated discussion by William Bachman .
• Student Government Association voter registration drive for students.

York

Sept. 17

• Annual “WE ARE the People” Constitution Day trivia event during the first half our of the Student Government Association meeting from noon to 12:30 p.m. in the Community Room of the Joe and Rosie Ruhl Student Community Center. Students will use clickers to answer questions, which are taken from the civics portion of the naturalization test.
• Free Constitution booklets available for students.

Constitution Day activities at University Park are sponsored by the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences and Intercollege Minor in Civic and Community Engagement within the College of the Liberal Arts.

For more information about the University Park events, contact Rosa Eberly, associate professor in the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences, at [email protected], or Travis Brisini, assistant teaching professor in the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences, at [email protected]. Questions about other listed events should be directed toward the hosting Penn State campus.