Today, the U.S. Constitution turns 227 years old.

To commemorate the holiday, the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy is hosting events to educate students and the community on impending amendments to the Tennessee Constitution and to encourage voter registration.

“Often times, we just see Constitution Day on a calendar and we just think, ‘Well, it’s not a holiday because we don’t get school off so whatever,’ but we just want to bring importance back to Constitution Day, making it just a fun event,” said Baker Ambassador Diana Howell, sophomore in political science. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and it really will be fun.”

On the Nov. 4 ballot, Tennesseans will be asked to vote on four amendments; Wednesday Baker Center events will focus on two: Amendment 1 and Amendment 2.

At 2 p.m. in the Toyota Auditorium, Gov. Bill Haslam and former

Gov. Phil Bredesen will examine

Amendment 2 while Doug Blaze, dean of the College of Law, moderates the

discussion. Constitutional Amendment No. 2 would allow the governor to appoint judges to the

supreme court or any other state appellate court if confirmed by the

general assembly.

Nissa Dahlin-Brown, associate director of the Baker Center, commented on the unique opportunity students have to

hear the two governors speak.

“What better way than to have democratic and republican governors to look at the issues of Amendment 2?” Dahlin-Brown said.

At 10:30 a.m. in the Rotunda Reading Room of the Baker Center,

Baker Fellow and social scientist Mary English will hold a “Baker Cafe” discussion on Amendment 1, which concerns the privacy rights of Tennessee women seeking

abortion.

English will provide background on the Tennessee Constitution’s

provisions regarding “right to privacy” and how it has been interpreted in application to women’s health, including abortions. She will also

provide background on how amendments to the constitution are proposed

and ratified, and will discuss the wording of Constitutional Amendment No. 1.

“I

hope the discussion will help students understand, first, how public

policies are shaped by constitutional and statutory law, and second, the

role that voters will play this November regarding future access in

Tennessee to abortion procedures,” English said.

All day, students will have the opportunity to

register to vote. From 8-11 a.m. in Hodges Library, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

on Pedestrian Walkway and 2-5 p.m. at the Baker Center, Baker Ambassadors will provide voter registration forms for students. In conjunction with the National Campaign for Political and Civic Engagement, Diana Howell and Morgan Chance, Voter Registration Committee chairs, hope to encourage student involvement this year in local and national elections.

“If you look back at SGA elections, something as small and

as directly effective as you can get, had such a low voter turnout,” Howell said. “We just want, in general, people to focus on registering to vote.”

Students simply have to fill out the form and the Baker Center will mail them to the appropriate county.

“It’s a civic duty that everyone over the age of 18 should participate in to be able to elect our officials and have a say in who makes decisions for the community and the whole United States,” Chance said.

The Baker Center events are in accordance with a federal law set in 2004 by Sen. Robert

Byrd, requiring all schools receiving federal funds to provide

educational programming on the history of the U.S. Constitution on

Sept. 17.

However, Dahlin-Brown said the events are more than just a political check mark.

“We also just want everyone to know about the constitution and understand their rights,” Nissa said.

However, she admits that the true purpose of Wednesday’s events is to encourage students to register to vote and become familiar with political elections before Nov. 4.

“People

usually register to vote when there is a big, presidential election,”

Dahlin-Brown said, “but this year we’ve got four amendments and

important offices that need to be voted on … If you want to have a statement in how your government is running, then you need to vote.”