Enterprise State Community College Celebrated Constitution Day and Citizenship Day
The journeys to citizenship by some of Enterprise State Community College’s faculty and staff members were shared during the college’s annual celebration of Constitution Day and Citizenship Day on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017.
Dean Olivier Charles, Dean of Student Services, and Mr. Daniel Poncé, a History Instructor at the college, spent Thursday evening discussing their journey to citizenship with faculty, staff, students and community members during the official presentation. Charles is an immigrant of Haiti who received his American citizenship within the last two years. Poncé, a California native whose family members have gone through the citizenship process in the country, provided opening remarks about the process of obtaining citizenship and on the history of immigration and citizenship in the United States. An engaging and lively question and answer session followed the two presentations.
Their presentations were part of the college’s annual celebration. The federal Constitution Day and Citizenship Day was officially Sunday, Sept. 17. The holiday was established by Congress in 2004. The late Robert Byrd, senator from West Virginia at the time and a noted expert on the Constitution, sponsored the bill to try to increase knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of the United States Constitution. The formal name of the holiday is “Constitution Day and Citizenship Day,” and the holiday celebrates the formation of the Constitution and its signing by members of the Constitutional Convention on Sept. 17, 1789. Additionally, the act promotes the importance of good citizenship.
As part of this celebration, ESCC had a week-long display table on the Constitution in the foyer of Student Center of the Enterprise campus of ESCC. A similar display table was placed on the Ozark campus. This display table included free copies of the U.S. Constitution and material related to the Constitution.
The presentation was organized by the ESCC History Club and the Lyceum Committee.
Cutline: Olivier Charles, Dean of Student Services and Daniel Poncé, History Instructor.