by Kelly Rogge, KCKCC
Kansas City Kansas Community College is offering students, faculty, staff and community members the opportunity to celebrate an important moment in history during its annual observance of Constitution Day.
The Constitution Day event, “Gerrymandering Goes to the Supreme Court,” will begin at 11 a.m. Sept. 18 in Room 2325.
Faculty panelists will first present background information on the Constitution. Then Dagney Velazquez, assistant professor of mathematics at KCKCC, will discuss the impact of mathematics as it relates to gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is the practice in which a political advantage is established for a certain group during the creation of electoral districts. Velazquez spent one week at Tufts University in Boston this summer learning about the implications of such a practice and how the U.S. Supreme Court will address the issue once again later this year. Janet Velazquez, professor of business law at KCKCC, will provide legal analysis of the theme.
In addition to the Constitution Day presentation, those in attendance will have the opportunity to register to vote if they have not done so previously.
This forum is the college’s official observance of Constitution Day, the annual commemoration of the ratification of the Constitution and celebration of its importance in American society. Created in 2004, Constitution Day replaced what was previously Citizenship Day. Federal law requires that all educational institutions that receive public funds provide some type of education programming on the history of the American Constitution, leading to events such as the one at KCKCC.
For more information, contact Ewa Unoke, chair of the Constitution Day committee at 913-288-7318 or by email at [email protected].