Constitution Day, September 17, marks the anniversary of the date in 1787 when 39 of America’s founding fathers signed the original United States Constitution.

Students in political science will debate the constitutionality of Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070, commonly known as SB 1070 or the Arizona immigration law. The debate, open to the campus community, will take place on Thursday, September 16, at 9:25 a.m. in Upton Hall 230. Peter Yacobucci, assistant professor of Political Science, will moderate the debate.

Anthony Neal, associate professor of political science who specializes in American government, said, “Not many people actually read the Constitution. Instead, they attribute things to it that aren’t there, or they take away things that are there.” Neal believes that observing Constitution Day is important because it provides an opportunity to look at the original document, and to remember that it is not an abstract theory but the document that lays America’s foundation.

The Preamble to the Constitution says, “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”