Wayne Community College will hold several activities next week to celebrate the United States Constitution.
The activities, created in recognition of Constitution Day, include a display on the Constitutional Convention and the contents of the document it created, as well as the amendments that have enhanced it.
That exhibit will be set up in the Atrium of the Wayne Learning Center, which is the building on the main campus that has the flag poles in front. It can be viewed Monday, Sept. 19 through Friday, Sept. 23.
Information on registering to vote and voter registration forms will also be available at that site.
The display will include information on the five compromises that the framers of the Constitution agreed to in order to craft the document that established this country’s system of government.
Those concessions, born out of the necessity to find balance and middle ground for the greater good, and the ability to practice civil debate, will be discussed in a presentation titled “Civility, Compromise, and the U.S. Constitution” at 2 p.m. on Sept. 22 in Room 161 of the Wayne Learning Center.
WCC History Instructor Dean Lawson, Philosophy Instructor Steven Crowder, and Economics Instructor Dan Fagan will give an overview of how the founders overcame their differences to create the document that is the charter of our government and suggest how, in today’s polarized climate, we can embrace the model set by the Constitution and practice civil discourse.
Benjamin Franklin’s contributions to helping Constitutional Convention delegates find consensus will be noted during the presentation. He is quoted as saying, “I doubt … whether any other convention we can obtain may be able to make a better constitution, for when you assemble a number of men to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish views. From such an assembly, can a perfect production be expected? It therefore astonishes me, dear sir, to find this system approaching so near to perfection as it does.”
“Ours is a country founded in compromise. How do we live into that and make the vision of our country as was outlined in our Constitution a reality? How do you support that in how you interact?” said Fagan, who is also a moderator with Braver Angels.
Braver Angels is a volunteer organization that works to depolarize American politics by helping individuals move from hatred and disdain to respect and appreciation.
All of these activities are free and open to the public.
Constitution Day celebrates the signing of the U.S. Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787. Constitution and Citizenship Day educational programs are mandated by federal legislation for all educational institutions that receive federal funding.
For more information, contact Tara Humphries at 919-739-7002 or tarah@waynecc.edu.
Wayne Community College is a public, learning-centered institution with an open-door admission policy located in Goldsboro, N.C. As it works to develop a highly skilled and competitive workforce, the college serves 10,000 individuals annually as well as businesses, industry, and community organizations with high quality, affordable, accessible learning opportunities, including more than 165 college credit programs. WCC’s mission is to meet the educational, training, and cultural needs of the communities it serves.