MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — For Middle Tennessee State University freshman Noah Milner, celebrating the U.S. Constitution is deeply personal. 

“Constitution Day is a big deal for me,” said the 27-year-old freshman from Quitman, Texas, who’s majoring in business administration.

“Since I am a veteran, it is good to come out here and make sure that everybody here knows that they have a right to go and vote, and that’s what this whole country’s always been about from the day that our Constitution was written.”

Milner was among scores of Blue Raider students who turned out to the College of Education Building on Monday, Sept. 16, to help MTSU celebrate Constitution Day with two days of live readings by students, faculty and staff at various campus locations and coordinated by the academic colleges.

The MTSU chapter of the American Democracy Project annually recognizes the signing of the document — which took place Sept. 17, 1787 — with volunteers from the campus community reading the Constitution in its entirety.

“Defining Democracy” is the theme for this year’s event, coinciding with the university wide exploration of the topic as part of the university’s Honors Lecture Series. Departments and programs across campus will emphasize research into the meaning of democracy throughout the fall semester as the November election approaches, which in turn, civically educates students.

As part of the Sept. 16-17 campus readings, participants stepped up to the microphone to read a portion of one of the country’s foundational documents and reflect on the core rights that allows them to participate in our democracy.

“Attending Constitution Day was really important to me because with the upcoming election, I think it’s really important to get your voice heard and get the people who you want elected in office,” said 19-year-old Chantz Clayborn, sophomore biology major from Memphis, Tenn.

Aundria Green, lecturer for University Studies, said she brings her students to the live readings every year because she wants them to understand the political process since many students haven’t read the Constitution before, she said. 

“I want them to be civically minded and civically engaged,” Green said. 

“A lot of times we don’t attend things like this because we don’t know that it’s important and that it’s helpful and that it’s useful,” Green continued. “And who knows what this will spark? Maybe they’ll want to be in politics one day, or maybe they will see that I can speak in public, and it’s not that bad.”

‘Our duty as citizens and voters’

Honors College history research professor Mary Evins, coordinator of the MTSU American Democracy Project chapter, was on hand for Monday’s reading outside the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building on the east side of campus.

She’s passionate about educating the campus community about the importance of this critical governing document.

“People spew a lot of information about what the country is all about, and there’s a lot of phraseology about originalism now … of what our original framers and founders meant,” she said. “And you can’t know that until you have a familiar and working association with the document.”

In discussing the history of the annual campus observance, Evins noted that Constitution Day programming used to be “fairly condensed” to a classroom and perhaps a single university-wide event. But organizers eventually determined that more was needed to achieve the impact they were pursuing.

“We’ve really found that in order for the maximum amount of students to be impacted, or learn about it, or really engage, it needs to be spread all over the campus in lots of different ways,” she said.

With public confidence in the three branches of government weakened by the intensely partisan nature of today’s politics, Evins sees Constitution Day as a way to remind citizens of the critical role they play in our system of governance.

“What society has failed to grasp and understand is that it is our duty as citizens and voters, to be the backup… to go in and say, ‘We have to realign this because what the founders had in mind was a tripartite system of equal power … Not one branch overlording another,” she said. 

Students bring ‘a good turnout’

Honors student Sneh Gandhi, a junior English and philosophy major, from Murfreesboro, didn’t mince words when asked why he participated in the campus readings amid the bitterly divisive state of politics in the country.

“The Constitution is on the line, and we need to save this Constitution. Some way or the other we need to save this democracy,” he said. 

An accounting major from Cookeville, Nathaniel Harrison serves as an Honors College ambassador as well as being a member of the Student Government Association and Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity. Watching the steady stream of his classmates joining him in this symbolic effort brought with it some optimism.

“I wanted to take part in this because I love our country and I wanted to celebrate our Constitution,” Harrison said. “I’m happy with the turnout; I think it’s good that we’re getting so many different people out here. … I saw a lot of different people in student government, in fraternity-sorority life, in Honors College, and everyday MTSU students that are here. I’m just glad we had a good turnout.”

Essence Smith, a junior mechatronics engineering major from Jackson, Mississippi, also felt the need to make a patriotic statement when given the chance.

“I love America, and it is very important to know about the Constitution and get involved in student activities,” she said.

For Honors student Molly Bedwell, a junior psychology major from Pensacola, Florida, her motivation was simple.

“I think that more young students and more young American citizens should definitely invest in getting to know more about the Constitution and politics,” she said.

MTSU’s American Democracy Project chapter set up voter registration tables near the reading locations to encourage students to take the next step and get registered.

“They’re in the spirit already, so they’re much more willing to come over and get registered and then actually go and vote,” said Nancy Prescott, Public History graduate student and graduate research assistant for the American Democracy Project.

In addition to the College of Education and Honors Building locations, readings were also held outside the Academic Classroom Building, Peck Hall courtyard, Business and Aerospace Building courtyard, and Bragg Mass Communication Building.

Meanwhile, a capacity crowd turned out for a conversation about democracy featuring Mike Pence, 48^th vice president of the United States, that took place in Tucker Theatre Tuesday, Sept. 17, and was moderated by Evins.

And to recognize National Voter Registration Day on Tuesday, Sept. 17, representatives of the American Democracy Project and the League of Women Voters of Murfreesboro/Rutherford County helped register voters on the front lawn of Tucker Theatre.

Get registered

To register to vote in Tennessee, you:

• Must be a citizen of the United States who will be 18 years old or older before the date of the next election.
• Must be a resident of Tennessee.
• Cannot have been convicted of a felony (or if you have, your voting rights have been restored by a court order or pardon).
• Must be properly registered no later than 30 days before the election.

The American Democracy Project at MTSU website also has information specifically for student voter registration, including residency requirements.  Visit amerdem.mtsu.edu/vote. If you live here to attend school, you may register to vote in Rutherford County, Tennessee.

— Maddy Williams (Maddy.Williams@mtsu.edu)

— MTSU senior journalism major Amari Henderson contributed to this story.