The University of Louisiana at Lafayette and its College of Liberal Arts will recognize the founding document of the American republic on Thursday with an annual reading of the U.S. Constitution on campus.
A voter registration table will be set up. A social justice panel will follow the reading; a movie screening is set Thursday night.
Activities begin at 11:40 a.m. with a brief performance by Cajun musicians Marie-Laure Boudreau and Chris Segura on East St. Mary Boulevard, across from Dupré Library.
Students, faculty, elected officials and members of the community will then read the entire Constitution aloud. UL Lafayette Constitutional scholar Rick Swanson will emcee.
Free copies of the Constitution will be distributed. The League of Women Voters of Lafayette will also sponsor a voter registration table.
At 2 p.m., the Office of Campus Diversity will host a “Black Lives Matter” panel moderated by Dr. D’Weston Haywood, a UL Lafayette assistant professor of African-American history. The discussion will be held at Bayou Bijou in the Student Union.
The Political Science Club will sponsor a screening of “Lincoln” at 7 p.m. in Oliver Hall Auditorium. Dr. Ian Beamish, a visiting assistant professor of history, will provide historical commentary on the film.
All Constitution Day events are free and open to the public. Participants are encouraged to bring brown bag lunches.