NDSU celebrates Constitution Day

Our nation’s founders signed the United States Constitution 225 years ago on Sept. 17, 1787. Constitution Day commemorates this moment of history each year on Sept. 17.

Members of the Army ROTC, Air Force ROTC, Student Government and NDSU students and staff gathered to celebrate Constitution Day Monday morning in the lower level of the Memorial Union.

Student Body Vice President Jace Beehler sang the National Anthem to begin the event.

Then, Student Body President Luke Brodeur shared a reflection of his opportunities and freedoms that come from living in America.

“I think all of us would be able to share those same stories of opportunities, of freedoms, of liberties to live in the greatest nation in the world, and it all started with the U.S. Constitution,” Brodeur said.

NDSU President Dean Bresciani read the preamble to the Constitution, and 12 students -- members of Student Government, Army ROTC and Air Force ROTC -- each read a portion of the Constitution.

Beehler described the reading of the Constitution as a way to remind people of the freedoms they have and how those freedoms were created.

“I think students don’t take the time to understand [the Constitution],” Beehler said. “Just taking the time to listen to it, that is going to make a difference.”

Mitchell McGillick, a criminal justice major and member of Army ROTC, read a portion of the Constitution for the event. He said celebrating Constitution Day is important because the document is
“the basis of the United States of America,” yet people often forget what the country was founded on.

Luke Daley, a civil engineering major and member of Army ROTC, also read a portion of the Constitution. He described hearing the document read aloud as “very humbling.”

“It makes me proud as an American to know this is what I stand for. Being in the service, this is what I stand for and this is what I’m protecting,” he said.

The upcoming presidential election makes Constitution Day more relevant to the public, Daley said.

Voting is one of the ways people can connect with the Constitution, Beehler said.

Memorial Union, Student Government, Army ROTC, Air Force ROTC and Compass Programs Foundation sponsored the event.