By MEGHAN MARQUARDT

mmarquardt@mininggazette.com

HOUGHTON – Thursday, Finlandia University and Michigan Technological University will hold events celebrating the cornerstone of American government, the U.S. Constitution. The day marks the 228th anniversary of the Constitution’s signing in 1787.

Mary Jane Hatton, MPA, acting president of the League of Women Voters Copper Country (LWV CC) and Finlandia associate professor of management, said the LWV CC is recommending both university’s Constitution Day celebrations.

“The League is recommending both the presentations on the Constitution at Michigan Tech and Finlandia because all Americans need to know more about the Constitution. The framers created this country presuming we would have an educated electorate. Understanding the way government works is foundational to an educated electorate,” she said.

According to the Michigan Tech website, Tech will kick off its festivities at 1:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon by the husky on campus. Essay contest winners will be announced, the pep band will play, a reading of the Constitution will be held, and student governments will have booths set up. The theme of the essay contest is “The Mass Surveillance Debate: National Security v. Privacy,” and winning students will receive $100, $75 and $50 gift cards for the Campus Bookstore.

From 1:30 to 3 p.m. in the Van Pelt and Opie Library pavilion, voter registration with the Houghton City Clerk will be held. A display of constitution-related holdings will be on display at the library as well, according to the website.

In case of rain, outdoor events will be held in the Memorial Union Ballroom commons.

Finlandia will begin events at 5 p.m. in Mannerheim Central, with Hatton and William Knoblauch, Ph.D., giving a talk on the Constitution.

Knoblauch is an assistant professor of history at Finlandia, and Hatton has extensive experience teaching government. Both presenters will explore the events that lead to the writing of the Constitution and the historical and political climate of the times, according to a release.

The presentation will run until 6 p.m. and refreshments will be served. The public is welcome.