Constitution Day

On Friday, September 19, 2025, the American Founding Group and the School of Public and International Affairs will host a celebration of Constitution Day. The centerpiece of these festivities is a lecture entitled “Are the Peasants Revolting: Insurrection, Legal Uprisings, and Presidential Power” by , Regents Professor at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.

Prior to the lecture, the UGA Libraries will host “Constitution on the Quad,” featuring Constitutional trivia and student readings of the Constitution. In addition, historical documents and materials related to the American founding and U.S. Constitution will be displayed at the Chapel from the Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

1:30 pm

UGA Chapel

Display of historical documents and materials related to the American founding and U.S. Constitution provided by the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library

2:00 pm

UGA Chapel

Keynote Lecture聽by聽, Regents Professor at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.

Thank you to our sponsors for their generous support of Constitution Day: Willson Center for Humanities & Arts, Philip H. Alston Fund, and Albert Saye Fund

The content and opinions expressed during events hosted by the School of Public & International events do not necessarily reflect the views of nor are they endorsed by the 快猫短视频 or the University System of Georgia.

Constitution Day Itinerary −+

1:30 pm

North Campus Quad

Constitution on the Quad: Constitutional trivia and student readings of the Constitution

1:30 pm

UGA Chapel

Display of historical documents and materials related to the American founding and U.S. Constitution provided by the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library

2:00 pm

UGA Chapel

Keynote Lecture聽by聽, Regents Professor at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.

What is Constitution Day? −+

Constitution Day is the annual celebration of the day that representatives to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia completed and signed the U.S. Constitution in 1787. The observance of this day began as “I am an American Day” in 1940 and later as Citizenship Day in 1952 when the celebration was moved to September 17 to commemorate the signing of the original document. Constitution Day as we observe it today was recognized as a federal holiday in 2004, when Senator Robert Byrd passed a bill designating September 17 as the day for citizens to commemorate the signing of the U.S. Constitution and to thoughtfully engage with the nation’s founding document.

About the Speaker −+

held a faculty position in the Department of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, College Park, from 1993 to 2007. In 2004, he was appointed Professor of Government and Law at Maryland Carey Law, a title he held until May 1, 2015, at which time he received an appointment as the Jacob A. France Professor of Constitutionalism. In 2016, he was named Regents Professor, one of only seven Regents Professors in the history of the University System of Maryland and the only Regents Professor on the UMB campus. He served as associate dean for research and faculty development from 2010 to 2013. He has also been one of the organizers of the annual Constitutional Law “Schmooze,” which attracts scholars from across the country to the law school.

Professor Graber is recognized as one of the leading scholars on constitutional law and politics. He is the author of A New Introduction to American Constitutionalism聽(Oxford 2013),聽Dred Scott and the Problem of Constitutional Evil聽(Cambridge, 2006), and co-editor (with Keith Whittington and Howard Gillman) of聽American Constitutionalism: Structures听补苍诲听Powers and American Constitutionalism: Rights and Powers, both also from Oxford University Press, and co-editor with Mark Tushnet and Sandy Levinson of聽Constitutional Democracy in Crisis聽(Oxford 2018). His most recent book is聽Punish Treason, Reward Loyalty: The Forgotten Goals of Constitutional Reform After the Civil War聽(Kansas, 2023).

Professor Graber is also the author of over 100 articles, including “The Non-Majoritarian Problem: Legislative Deference to the Judiciary” in聽Studies in American Political Development, “Naked Land Transfers and American Constitutional Development,” published in the聽Vanderbilt Law Review聽and “Resolving Political Questions into Judicial Questions: Tocqueville鈥檚 Aphorism Revisited,” published by聽Constitutional Commentary.

He has been a visiting faculty member at Harvard University, Yale Law School, the University of Virginia School of Law, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Toronto, the University of Oregon School of Law, and Simon Reichman University.

Accessibility −+

Access provided for people with disabilities. Contact Lauren Ledbetter at [email protected] by Wednesday, September 10, 2025 for specific requests.

Relevant Links −+

American Founding Group

Previous Constitution Day Events −+

2015
Jack Rakove, 鈥淲hat Did the Constitution Really Mean? Two Interpretations鈥�

2016
Akhil Reed Amar, 鈥淭he Constitution at a Crossroads”

2017
Michael J. Klarman, “The Constitution as a Coup Against Public Opinion”

2018
Carol Berkin,聽鈥淏orn in Crisis: The Emergence in the 1790s of an American Identity”

2019
Alan Taylor, “Competing Constitutions: North America, 1783-1795”

2020
Michael Zuckert, “The Consistency of James Madison: the Bill of Rights”

2021
Annette Gordon-Reed, 鈥淥n Juneteenth: History, Memory, the Present and the Future鈥�

2022
Sanford V. Levinson, 鈥淩eflections of a Would-be Framer”

2023
Mary Sarah Bilder, “The Framing Generation and Female Genius”

2024
Eric Nelson, “Of Kings and Presidents: Monarchy and the Framing of the Constitution”

Declaration Day

Jan 2026

On January 23, 2026, 快猫短视频 hosted Declaration Day, a celebration the 250th anniversary of the creation and signing of the Declaration of Independence. The centerpiece of Declaration Day was an

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