Owensboro Community and Technical College to host Constitution Day event on September 19

On September 19, Owensboro Community and Technical College will host an event celebrating Constitution Day. The festivities start at 11 a.m. and will be held in the Chandler Conference Center, which is Room 107 in the Advanced Technology Center on the main campus. The school’s main campus address is 4800 New Hartford Road.

Retired Political Science and History professor from Kentucky Wesleyan College Bill Conroy, Ph.D.  will be giving a lecture called “Should Secession be Made a Constitutional Option?” Conroy received his degree in political science while studying at Fordham University, and was a teacher at Kentucky Wesleyan College for nearly 30 years.

Conroy was quoted in an article by the Messenger-Inquirer as saying of his lecture, “I’m not in favor of secession, but empirical evidence shows we’re moving into the direction of a civil war. In the south, a majority of Republicans favor secession.”

He then went on to state that with the large number of semi-automatic rifles owned in the southern part of the country, a mobilization could be worse than what was experienced during the Civil War. “I’m not saying it is inevitable because trying to predict the future is a fool’s errand, but we seem to be moving in that direction. Secession is unconstitutional but it is not forbidden. I don’t know if the present Supreme Court would uphold the precedent that secession is unconstitutional,” he said.

A portion of Conroy’s lecture will be about the consequences of not having a constitutional option for secession in the event that a significant number of Americans wish to secede from the union. 

Owensboro Community and Technical College is hosting the event with the desire to highlight the importance of the constitution for the anniversary of its signing, and the responsibility Americans have in preserving what the document represents. 

President of OCTC Scott Williams said to the Messenger-Inquirer on the subject, “We hope that the topic of this Constitution Day encourages discussion and deliberation among the students, faculty and staff and that community members feel free to join us.”

Professor of history at OCTC Angela Ash noted that there is a federal mandate to host a Constitution Day event, but that the school is “glad to do so.” She also mentioned that Bill Conroy is “highly respected and regarded within the community,” as his selection to speak was based on that. 

On the topic of the event itself and the school’s decision to hold it on the 19th, Ash said, “It is meant to commemorate the signing of the constitution, which took place on Sept. 17, 1787 in Philadelphia. We decided to host it on Sept. 19, which is on a Monday, so more students would be able to join.” 

The event will be free to the public as well as students and all in attendance will be served pizza. For those unable to make the event in person, a Microsoft Teams virtual option will be available. More information about the school and the event can be found on its website.