Constitution Day, a commemoration of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, is observed annually at Oglethorpe University with a Constitution Day Lecture featuring an esteemed guest speaker.

Dr. Susan McWilliams Barndt

This year, the university welcomed Dr. Susan McWilliams Barndt, chair and professor of politics at Pomona College (Claremont, CA). Barndt gave an address titled “‘An Agreement with Hell’: Slavery, Abolitionists, and the United States Constitution”.

Responses were offered by Dr. Benjamin Kleinerman, the R.W. Morrison chair of political science at Baylor University, and Dr. Rebecca Schmerer, lecturer in core studies at Oglethorpe.

Organized by Professor of Politics Dr. Joe Knippenberg, Oglethorpe’s annual Constitution Day Lectures are sponsored by the Jack Miller Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit in Pennsylvania that partners with universities to transform student access to education in American political thought and history and foster informed civic engagement.