Our first-ever Nolan Fowler Constitution Day Celebration begins at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 20, in Derryberry Auditorium, with a lecture by Daniel Dreisbach of American University.

Daniel Dreisbach of American University

The topic of his talk will be the origins of America's "wall of separation" between church and state.

“Constitution Day is an unfunded mandate enacted into law by Congress last spring, and it requires public universities and colleges that receive federal funding to set aside a day devoted to teaching about the Constitution,” says Sharon Whitney, associate professor of Political Science and an organizer of the event.

Emeritus faculty member Nolan Fowler

Named in honor of Nolan Fowler, a retired professor of History who taught constitutional development at the university from 1962 to 1979, the annual event was made possible by his $150,000 commitment to establish the Constitution Day Celebration on our campus.

“I was very happy to provide this money because the Constitution is so important — it’s the foundation for our entire system of government — yet so many people know so little about it,” Fowler says.

“This event couldn’t be named in honor of a more deserving candidate," says President Bob Bell. "As a long-time instructor of constitutional law here at TTU, Dr. Fowler touched the lives of many students, and his commitment to our Constitution Day Celebration will insure that his influence continues to touch lives.”

A professor in AU's School of Public Affairs, Dreisbach previously served as a judicial clerk for a justice on the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and as a public interest lawyer specializing in civil and religious liberties.

In his lecture here, Dreisbach will discuss how Thomas Jefferson’s 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut redefined the constitutional relationship between church and state, and how Jefferson’s “wall of separation” phrase led to the shorthand term still used today for the Establishment Clause — “separation of church and state.”

At American University, Dreisbach's principal research includes American constitutional law and history, First Amendment law, church and state relations, and criminal procedure. He has written extensively on these topics in numerous scholarly journals and as author or editor of five books.