Sacramento State and Associated Students, Inc., came together last week to celebrate not just Constitution Day, but an entire week filled with events in honor of the U.S. Constitution.

The third annual Sac State Constitution Week took place from Sept. 15 until Monday, and was created to commemorate the adoption of the United States Constitution in 1787, said Laura Gonzalez, ASI director of government affairs.

“Events such as Constitution Week help to increase student involvement within the campus community and also learn about one of the most important documents of our nation,” said Roberto Torres, ASI president. “The events we planned will help increase student awareness of the political climate and educate them about the issues.”

This year’s Constitution Week was sponsored by Sac State organizations such as the American Democracy Project, ASI, the Women’s Resource Center, PRIDE Center, UNIQUE, Community Engagement Center and Student Activities. Each of these organizations chose an event that would represent its ideals of the American constitution. Once the events were chosen by the organization, they were taken to ASI for approval; all were approved.

“ASI is keen on collaborating with several campus organizations to serve our students,” Torres said.

ASI hosted the first event, which took place on Sept. 15 in the Library Quad. Participants were encouraged to register to vote and received a complimentary copy of the U.S. Constitution. Along with the copy came an explanation of the history of the document from an ASI representative at the booth.

On Sept. 16, the Multi-Cultural Center, along with ASI Director of Undeclared Yeimi Lopez, held an event entitled “The Experience of Undocumented Students.” This event was an informational workshop concerning Assembly Bill 540, signed into law Oct. 12, 2001, that allows illegal immigrants to attend any UC, CSU or community college in California with only a few requirements, Gonzalez said.

Unregistered students are eligible for in-state, tuition, higher education if they complete at least three years of high school, graduate from high school or receive a G.E.D, register at an accredited college or university in California, and file an affidavit stating that they will apply for legal residency as soon as possible, Lopez said.

“I feel that these events allow the campus as a whole to pay attention to very crucial and important issues that we are facing but have been placed in the back burner due to the financial crisis we are facing,” Lopez said. “Most importantly I feel that the events will serve as a way to get students involved.”

The following day, Thursday, was the main event day; three events took place to celebrate the signing of the US Constitution 222 years ago.

On Thursday, ASI hosted its annual “Day in the Quad” event that was free to all students and put together in efforts to encourage student involvement at Sac State and a way for students to become more aware of what ASI does. As a bonus, ASI gave out free Jamba Juice to the first 300 attendees.

“This event is very important for ASI because we will be having all the programs of ASI out in the quad for the students,” Gonzalez said.

According to ASI’s website, its programs include SafeRides, which provides free, safe and confidential rides home to the students, staff and faculty of Sac State; Green Sting, a club devoted to promoting charities, athletics and other activities that build the campus life; the Children’s Center, which offers affordable, dependable and convenient child care for student, staff and faculty parents; as well as KSSU 1530 AM radio, Peak Adventures, the Student Life & Services Center and the Aquatic Center.

The screening of the film “American Idealist: The Story of Sergeant Shriver” was yet another event that took place on Thursday as part of Constitution Week in the University Union Hinde Auditorium.

The screening was sponsored by the Community Engagement Center and the film concerned the invention of a string of social initiatives that shaped an era and dared millions of young Americans to live out their ideals, Gonzalez said.

According to the event schedule, “Those who knew Sergeant Shriver – Bill Moyers, Andrew Young, political commentator Mark Shields, and so many others – have spoken of Shriver in the same breath as Martin Luther King Jr, calling him a visionary of deep humanity who helped create a more just society.”

After the film on Thursday, UNIQUE hosted the event by Henry Rollins in the University Union Ballroom. Rollins performed spoken-word and is the former singer of Black Flag and Rollins Band. He is a popular American singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, writer, publisher, actor, radio DJ and activist. In this performance, Rollins added to the theme of the week by speaking about constitutional rights in America.

The PRIDE Center’s event took place on Monday. The center decided to host a lecture by Brian DiSarro at the University Union lobby suites, entitled “Gay Rights in America.”

Brian DiSarro, government department faculty member, explained that the lecture takes a look at the gay rights movement, the history of this movement and the current political climate in the wake of Proposition 8 vote.

Blazej Bruzda can be reached at [email protected].