Schools around the nation are now required to honor one of the most important documents in United States history after a recently-passed law stated all federally-funded schools must celebrate Constitution Day.

The law provision was proposed by Sen. Robert Byrd, D-WV, and was passed in July 2005. Because Constitution Day is Sept. 17, SF State held their event on Sept. 19.

Although universities across the nation will plan more structured events, this law also extends to elementary schools, secondary schools and high schools.

“There is a delicate relationship between the Constitution and what actually comes out in our day-to-day life,” said Kenneth Monteiro, dean of the College of Ethnic Studies and a panel moderator.

According to Joel Kassiola, the dean of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, the faculty at SF State was planning for a “richer program than normal,” despite the short amount of time since the law was passed.

The faculty set up a day’s worth of discussion groups, some even overlapping each other in time, which were led by college deans and professors who have expertise in the topics. The topics included civil rights and affirmative action, the politics of the Supreme Court and disability rights. Each topic was discussed in relation to the Constitution.

“We didn’t have a heck of a lot of time to plan this,” Kassiola said, noting that the faculty met in August to plan the day’s events. “There was a big faculty response to this, so we wanted to do something more structured, more elaborate, more valued (than other colleges).”

“Next spring we’ll be able to invite students to participate,” he said.

The discussions were coordinated by Robert Cherny, the dean of Undergraduate Studies at SF State. According to Cherny, it was decided that nationally prominent faculty members would be the speakers, due to the timeframe.

“We wanted to try for outside speakers,” he said, “but we had to comply with the short planning time.”

Amy Smith, a psychology professor at SF State, spoke on a panel about affirmative action and the Supreme Court cases involving the issue. She said that she offered to speak because the topic relates to her area of expertise.

“Students at (SF State) are incredibly active and involved,” Smith said. “(This college has) an incredible student body of focused and engaged scholars.”