By Gil Pound

G eorgia College & State University is hosting topical discussions and events throughout an ongoing slate of 2025 Constitution Week events.

Centered around Constitution Day Sept. 17, Constitution Week is a celebration of the United States of America’s governing document and the freedoms it affords citizens.

“Our Constitution Week always has a lot of energy behind it,” said Dr. Harold Mock, director of Georgia College Leadership Programs and an organizer of the event. “The week is a great opportunity for students, faculty, staff, alumni, friends and community members to come together around our belief in democracy and a constitutional system of government.”

From large auditorium-style presentations on impactful Supreme Court decisions to more intimate settings like a panel on checks and balances and even a concert featuring political campaign music, there’s programming for all audiences.

“True to Georgia College’s designation as the state’s public liberal arts university, our Constitution Week events will engage students across a wide range of majors and disciplines,” GCSU President Cathy Cox said. “I look forward to the civic-minded discussions to come as we examine our nation’s most important document and try to determine what democracy looks like in 2025 and beyond.”

President Cox is among the featured speakers during Constitution Week. The former lawyer, state legislator and Georgia’s first woman elected Secretary of State is serving as facilitator for Times Talk Sept. 17 from noon to 12:50 p.m. inside the Pat Peterson Room of Russell Library. The talk titled, “What is ‘the Rule of Law,’ and Can I Still Find it in America?” includes a panel of legal experts.

Also Sept. 17 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. inside Peabody Auditorium, assistant professor of curriculum and instruction Dr. Brian Gibbs will facilitate a panel discussion on checks and balances in America.

Georgia College’s Constitution Week goes virtual Sept. 18 from 7 to 8 p.m. when associate political science professor Dr. Steve Elliott-Gower leads a discussion on the 2023 Richard Haass book titled, “The Bill of Obligations.” The work reenvisions citizenship in order to “solve our climate of division and safeguard our democracy,” according to the book’s description.

The Supreme Court review, a Georgia College Constitution Week fixture, caps off the slate of events Tuesday, Sept. 23, in the Arts & Sciences auditorium from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Jehan El-Jourbagy, GCSU associate professor of business law, will give the audience an overview of how the Supreme Court operates before four legal experts – including an Ocmulgee Superior Court judge and a former judicial clerk for a Supreme Court justice – dive into the Court’s decisions on recent cases. The decisions from those cases set precedents and cause major policy shifts across the country.

“The presenters are each tasked with presenting a case from the most recent term in a way that’s accessible to undergraduates, explaining how the case got into the court system, how did it get all the way to the Supreme Court, and what impact the Court’s ruling has on society,” El-Jourbagy said. “We try to make the cases we pick very relevant to the students.”

Times and laws change, but the United States of America has endured over 249 years since declaring independence. Mock believes the Constitution Week activities are the perfect lead in to the country’s approaching sestercentennial anniversary, America 250.

“Constitution Week is a great opportunity to get people energized about that celebration that will be unfolding across the university, our community and the country for the next year,” he said.

Georgia College Constitution Week festivities kicked off Tuesday evening, Sept. 16, when Dr. Dana Gorzelany-Mostak and the Georgia College Department of Music presented “Trail Tunes: A Delightful Program of Songs from Presidential Campaigns, 1840-1964.” The evening featured live performances of historic campaign songs such as “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too,” “Liberty’s Call,” and “Wake, Sons of Columbia.”

Through its unique liberal arts mission — which encourages students to collaborate across disciplines in a wide array of experiential learning opportunities — GCSU is training the next generation of leaders to create a better world by solving the systemic challenges that cause societal pains. Read about recent projects and success stories.