SAMANTHA BLONS
News Assistant
Paul Clark/Photo Editor
Seaver College celebrated the signing of the U.S. Constitution this week, with help from the Student Programming Board. SPB sponsored events throughout the week to foster student awareness and participation.
Two of the Pepperdine graduate schools also hosted events in respect to the federal holiday, which was established in 2004.
Constitution Day is celebrated every year to commemorate the signing of the historic document at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall on Sept. 17, 1787.
To start off the week, SPB members handed out Bill of Rights bookmarks in the Cafe during lunch.
The following day, representatives from SGA and SPB hosted a table near Oasis from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., encouraging students to answer quiz questions about the Constitution for prizes. The prizes were funded by both SPB and SGA.
Ryan Harvey, SGA vice president of administration, estimates that about 100 students participated in the Constitution quiz activity.
Senior Kenny Felkel, a political science and philosophy major, said he is looking forward to SPB’s program planned for tomorrow outside the Tyler Campus Center, labeled “How would you rewrite the Constitution?”
The exercise calls for students to imagine that the United States has been “torn apart by war, leaving our government in shambles and more than half the population in poverty,” according to SPB leaflets. Students are invited to draft a new Constitution to “rebuild our nation,” by submitting amendments to SGA and SPB members tomorrow.
“It’s a free expression wall, so [students] can put up any changes that they would make to the Constitution,” said Tiffany Saulnier, SPB administrative coordinator.
Felkel said he plans to participate in tomorrow’s program.
“But I wouldn’t change anything. I think [the U.S. Constitution] is the most genius document ever written,” he said.
The quiz table Tuesday also featured handouts related to other Constitution Week activities, including promotions for tonight’s showing of the film “United 93” in Elkins Auditorium at 10 p.m. The film was released earlier this year, and it depicts the true account of the passengers of United Flight 93, who resisted a terrorist plot to fly that plane into a fourth target on Sept. 11, instead crashing the plane into a field in rural Pennsylvania.
SPB Media and Technology Coordinator Darnell Brisco, who is responsible for selecting which movies are shown in Elkins each Thursday night, said the film choice was related more to the fifth anniversary of Sept. 11, but was tied into the events of Constitution Week.
Tom Burnett, one of the passengers on United Flight 93 who fought to take back control of the plane from the terrorists, was a graduate of Pepperdine’s Graziadio School of Business and Management.
“We felt that it was a story that needed to be told, that needed to be seen, and through it we can really see how Tom Burnett really exemplifies Pepperdine’s mission of leadership and service,” Brisco said. “This is a time that not only draws the nation together, but also draws the Pepperdine community together to remember.”
According to Saulnier, members of SGA and SPB collectively came up with the activities for Constitution week.
SGA elections are currently underway. Students can vote online at pepsga.com.
The School of Public Policy will offer an “interactive” program titled “Why Celebrate Constitution Day?” Monday in the Drescher Auditorium at 1 p.m., led by Professor Gordon Lloyd.
The School of Law also hosted the most recent U.S. Supreme Court appointee, Justice Samuel Alito, who spoke in a “Constitution Day forum in the Caruso Auditorium from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Payson Library is offering a “small-scale exhibit” on the Constitution until Monday, according to Public Access Librarian Sarah Gilman. The library will have a Power Point presentation scrolling near the main lobby, with slides telling the story of the Founding Fathers, and providing information about the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. Payson will also be alternatively featuring the movies “1776” and “National Treasure” all week.
Darlene Rivas, professor of American history, said she supports the Constitution Week activities.
“I think it’s always good when students have the opportunity to learn more about their political opportunities and our government,” she said.
09-14-2006