Franklin & Marshall College

LANCASTER, Pa. - Franklin & Marshall will celebrate Constitution Day on Wednesday, Sept. 17 with members of the faculty, staff and student body giving a public reading of the Constitution of the United States. 

The event, which is free and open to the public, is scheduled to begin at noon on the steps of Old Main. President John Fry will commence with a reading of the Preamble. In addition to the reading, pocket-sized versions of the Constitution will be distributed.

The celebration, held to recognize the 221st anniversary of the signing of the document that sets out the nation's guiding laws and principles, became an annual event at colleges and universities across the country in 2005. Congress passed legislation declaring that "each educational institution that receives federal funds for a fiscal year shall hold an educational program on the United States Constitution on September 17 of such year for the students served by the educational institution."

The event is sponsored by the Center for Liberal Arts and Society and the Ware College House.

Stephen Medvic, associate professor of government and don of Ware College House, said that the reading should take roughly an hour, as the U.S. Constitution is one of the world's shortest constitutions--"a testament to the clarity of the Framers' thinking."

Medvic added, "What better way to celebrate Constitution Day than by actually reading the world's oldest written constitution?" 

FOR MORE INFORMATION: MARCY DUBROFF (717) 291-3837
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