September 30, 2005

The 'Jingoism' of a New Law

To the Editor:

The account of the new federal law that requires institutions of higher learning to commemorate the U.S. Constitution with some sort of ceremony on Constitution Day is puzzling ("Colleges Scramble to Plan Events to Comply With Federal Mandate for Constitution Day," The Chronicle, September 2). However admirable it is to commemorate this day, does such a mandate not fly in the face of all that the founding fathers stood for?

The contradiction inherent in such a