UB celebrated Constitution Day on Monday by throwing a birthday party for the Constitution in the Student Union Lobby.
The event featured red, white and blue frosted cupcakes, Constitution trivia, voter registration and performances by the Buffalo Chips and the Royal Pitches.
"Every public university in the country is required by law to commemorate Constitution Day," said Dennis Black, vice president of Student Affairs. "We decided to celebrate the day like any other birthday."
Many passersby stopping to see what was going on generated a decent sized crowd within a few minutes. Students were lured in by the cupcakes and stayed to enjoy the rest of the event.
UB's male a cappella group, the Buffalo Chips, opened the event singing The Star Spangled Banner and America the Beautiful.
Then Robert Knoff, Chair of the Department of Theatre and Fine Arts read an excerpt of the First Amendment of the Constitution, which stated:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
"It's a document that's the most widely accepted secular document in America," Knoff said. "Even though many people may disagree with it and there are many debates and amendments about it, it's generally accepted by most people."
Meanwhile, students filled out a short quiz on Constitution facts and won prizes depending on how many questions they got right. Prizes included boxes of mints, note cards, mini blue and white UB footballs and T-shirts.
"I liked the trivia. Even though I don't know the answers, I'm interested in finding out," said Alana Fajenisin, a junior fine arts major.
Many people also took a moment among the festivities to fill out voter registration cards.
"My main reason for doing this was to get people to register to vote," Knoff said. "Even if no one heard a word I said, if 10 people registered to vote, I'll be happy."
Knoff said that within the first 20 minutes of the event, at least 50 people had registered to vote.
"I liked that I could register to vote because I didn't know how to do that," Molly Frantz, a freshman pre-pharmacy major.
UB's all female a cappella group, the Royal Pitches, were also in attendance. They sang One Fine Day and Happy Birthday to the Constitution.
"UB has been celebrating Constitution Day since 2004, although the festivities have looked different each year," said Amy Wilson, staff associate for Student Life.
This is the first year Student Life decided on a birthday party theme for the remembrance of Constitution Day, Wilson said.
"Since Constitution Day celebrates the day the Constitutional Convention signed the Constitution in 1787, a birthday party seemed appropriate and fun at the same time," she said.
Wilson hopes that this active commemoration will make Constitution Day more memorable for UB students. Few people in the crowd knew it was Constitution Day before stopping for their free cupcake.
"Constitution Day is a relatively new 'holiday.' The day was called Citizenship Day before being renamed in 2004, therefore, I don't think many students are aware of the holiday," she said. "The hope was to bring some awareness of this fact through the event today."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
