Dear Members of the University Community:

Each year, the university observes Constitution Day on September 17. Constitution Day is a federal observance based on a law passed in 2004 requiring all publicly funded education institutions and federal agencies to provide educational programming about the Constitution. 

In light of the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which held that there is no constitutional right to abortion, the university is focusing its Constitution Day activities on discussions about the background, impacts, and future implications of this decision as a constitutional matter.  

We invite you to join us for a series of faculty presentations, panels, and discussions that focus on these questions:

  • On Monday, September 12 at 6:00 p.m., Professor Grace Livingston and Assistant Professor Regina Duthely-Barbee will present “Disorienting Histories: Black Womanhood and Reproductive Justice,” in the Tahoma Room in Thomas Hall. This presentation will situate reproductive health in the context of racism in the United States, and the ways that Dobbs impacts people differently. 
  • On Friday, September 16 at 12:00 p.m., Professors Alisa Kessel, Douglas Sackman, Suzanne Holland, and Robin Jacobson will participate in a panel, “The Constitution and Reproductive Rights in the Wake of Dobbs,” in the Rotunda in the Wheelock Student Center. This panel will delve into issues of equal protection and due process, federalism, religious liberty, and bodily autonomy. Civic Engagement will be hosting a voter registration table at this event.
  • On Monday, September 19 at 5:00 p.m., Professor Sara Freeman will host “Our Public Lives and Private Lives: Discussion of What the Constitution Means to Me and What it Means to You,” a discussion of the play, What the Constitution Means to Me in the Rotunda in Wheelock Student Center. Join Professor Freeman, Visiting Assistant Professor Anna Valiavska, and Associate Artistic Producer at the Seattle Rep Kaitlyn McIntyre for a panel discussion of the play and how it speaks to different aspects of private and public life impacted by constitutional interpretation. The panel will be thought provoking whether you’ve already seen the play or will see it after. If you are interested in seeing the play before or after this discussion, a filmed version is available to stream via Amazon Prime, and the Seattle Rep has a production of the play showing September 30-October 23.

In concert with these events, the library is hosting a virtual board to enable our campus community members to share what the Constitution means to them: tinyurl.com/upscon. 

Looking ahead into the fall semester, there will be additional opportunities to think about and engage with the topic of reproductive justice. A screening of the HBO documentary The Janes is being planned for early October.  A collaboratively created 0.25 activity credit course, GQS 190: Disorienting Histories–Abortion, Oppressed Bodies, Inequitable Autonomies, and the Fight for Justice in a Post-Roe United States, will be offered in the last half of the semester.  More information can be obtained by contacting the director of Gender and Queer Studies, Laura Krughoff. We will send additional information about these opportunities as they develop.

You can find additional resources to learn about the Constitution and Constitution Day by visiting the U.S. Department of Education Commemorating Constitution Day and Citizenship Day website. 

We look forward to seeing many of you at one or more of the upcoming events.  And thank you to our outstanding faculty colleagues and our partners in Civic Engagement, Collins Memorial Library, and Institutional Equity and Diversity for their collaboration and support for this year’s Constitution Day programming.

Sincerely,

Joanna
Joanna Carey Cleveland | Vice President and General Counsel and Secretary to the Board of Trustees