Sept. 17, 1787 may bear little significance to anyone other than history majors.
University coordinators, working in correlation with the not-for-profit organization Constitution Day, Inc., are on a mission to change that. This past Tuesday, UB kicked off its first annual Constitution Day presentation in the Student Union Theater.
The purpose of Constitution Day, according to event organizers, is not necessarily to glorify the shaping of the nation, but to give an objective examination of the historical conditions of the period.
"The message," said Michael Ryan, UB's Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education, "is essentially making people aware of the factual circumstances related to the framing of the U.S. Constitution. Bravery, intelligence and a great deal of pride went into crafting this landmark document."
Ryan said that authors of the Constitution "had the brilliance and foresight to include provisions that still hold to this day."
UB also receives federal funds in various forms, according to Ryan, and it is important for Americans to recognize such a significant part of their heritage.
"In late 2004," he said, "Congress passed legislation mandating that each educational institution that receives federal funds hold an educational program on the United States Constitution."
The lecture was given by Timothy Boyd, associate research professor in the department of classics. He concentrated on the eleven-year gap between the Revolutionary War in 1776, and the drafting of the Constitution in 1787.
"Under the Articles of Confederation, we were a confederacy," Boyd said, "not United States at all. State militias fought over land, there were interstate tariffs, money was worthless or unavailable and there were many threatened foreclosures on farms."
According to Boyd, tough times made the endeavor that much more remarkable.
Many students in attendance reflected on the educational value of the lecture.
"It was an event with good equity," said Bryan Betz, a senior political science major and representative of the College Republicans. "It was time well spent."
Betz, however, was just one of a handful of students in attendance. According to Amy Hardy, junior French and linguistics major, more advertisements may have been useful for attendance.
"I did not know about it," Hardy said. "If I did, I may have gone."
"Sadly, I did not think that there would be a particularly large turnout," Ryan said. "The tradition of recognizing and celebrating Constitution Day is new to our campus."
Ryan hopes that the event will garner greater attention in the future.
