STARKVILLE, Miss.--The nation's ninth official Constitution Day will be observed Friday [Sept. 16] at Mississippi State's Mitchell Memorial Library.
The university's celebration of the Sept. 17, 1787, passage of the Constitution of the United States takes place at 1 p.m. in the John Grisham Room. The event is open to all.
MSU joins other educational institutions and civil organization for a reading of the document's preamble. The reading is among several activities designed to increase awareness and appreciation for the Constitution's continuing importance to American life.
Signed by members of a constitutional convention meeting in Philadelphia, Pa., the document was created in response to a call throughout the 13 original colonies for a strong centralized government. Known as the Articles of Confederation, its predecessor had provided a decentralized framework for the new United States formed after the Revolutionary War.
In addition to the library, the program is co-sponsored by the university's John C. Stennis Institute of Government and John C. Stennis-G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery Association, a student political education organization, along with the Starkville-based Stennis Center for Public Service.
For more information on the program, telephone (662) 325-7661.
