Spring Break
URI celebrates Constitution Day
Annie-Laurie Hogan
Issue date: 9/16/05 Section: News
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"I was really thrilled by the response," Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Judith Swift said. "I had more people who wanted to participate than we could manage."
According to the U.S. Appropriations Act, federally funded schools are required to have an "educational program on the U.S. Constitution" during the week of Sept. 17.
"It's a great time to talk about our civil liberties and what we expect from the government," Swift said.
"Youth have very little power in the government bureaucracy," said URI Raise Your Voice fellow Carlo Baca. "However, it does not mean that we are powerless. Our greatest power is the right to raise our voice."
Baca and Raise Your Voice senior Jessie Gillman gave speeches on same-sex marriage, the Patriot Act and women's rights.
"[Women] are successful doctors, lawyers and CEOs," Gillman said. However, legal discrimination is not a thing of the past. Some women only earn 75 cents for every man's dollar."
Members of the URI community also read passages from a banned books list that included Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye," Walter Dean's "Fallen Angels" and Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale."
"Each year, hundreds of books are challenged in this country," Graduate School of Library and Information Studies professor Michael Havener said. "Books are challenged by people because they express ideals people are uncomfortable with."
"I thought the most moving piece was [Director of the Multicultural Center] Melvin Wade's reading of 'Native Son,' GSLIS professor Cheryl McCarthy said. "I enjoyed how he incorporated his personal history with the reading."
Wade's reading of Richard Wright's novel depicted the struggle of an African-American family living in segregated Chicago during the 1930s.
