Last December, President George W. Bush signed a bill authored by Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia to create a new national holiday: National Constitution Day. This holiday commemorates when the United States's government was born, September 17, 1787. On that day, 39 delegates from 12 states signed the Constitution into law, establishing how the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the democratic-republic government would function.

Part of the stipulations of the National Constitution Day bill requires all educational institutions receiving federal funding, from public elementary schools to private universities, to sponsor educational programs on or around September 17 in honor of National Constitution Day.

Accordingly, Carnegie Mellon is celebrating National Constitution Day this upcoming Thursday, September 15, at 4:30 p.m. at the PosnerCenter. History professor Scott Sandage will host the university's celebration with guest speaker Peter Shane from OhioStateUniversity. An original copy of the Bill of Rights, taken from the PosnerCenter archives, will also be on display. For more information about Carnegie Mellon's Constitution Day celebration, call 412-268-8677 or send an e-mail to Cathy Ribarchak at cr2@andrew.cmu.edu. For the full text of the United States Constitution, visit http://www.constitutioncenter.org/explore/TheU.S.Constitution/index.shtml.

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