Constitution Day is Wednesday, September 17, and the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy will celebrate the day with a full slate of activities, capped off with a discussion featuring Governor Bill Haslam and former Governor Phil Bredesen.
Free and open to the public, the day’s events will include:
10:30 a.m.—Baker Fellow Mary English will hold an informal discussion of Amendment 1 over coffee in the Rotunda Reading Room. Amendment 1 addresses legislative powers regarding abortion and will be on the ballot this November.
11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.—Baker ambassadors will invite students to sign a copy of the Constitution and register to vote on the Johnson-Ward Pedestrian Walkway.
2:00 p.m.—Governors Haslam and Bredesen will discuss Amendment 2 to the Tennessee Constitution in the Toyota Auditorium. Moderated by Doug Blaze, dean of UT’s College of Law, the governors will look at this November ballot question, which proposes new checks and balances to the governor’s appointment of Supreme Court and intermediate appellate court judges. It also protects the rights of Tennesseans to vote to retain or replace those judges in retention elections.
All day—Students can register to vote in the Baker Center Rotunda.
Constitution Day is an American federal observance that commemorates the formation and signing of the US Constitution by thirty-nine delegates on September 17, 1787, and recognizes all who have become US citizens. This day is celebrated in schools, churches, and other organizations through a range of educational events and activities.
The Baker Center is a nonpartisan institute devoted to education and research concerning public policy and civic engagement. For more information, visit the Baker Center website.
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C O N T A C T:
Nissa Dahlin-Brown (865-974-8681, nissa@utk.edu)