Pres. Hall in D.C. as keynote historian on Constitution

Doug Smeath

Utah State University President Kermit L. Hall is in Washington, D.C., this week, where he will be the featured speaker at a conference sponsored by the Supreme Court Historical Society.

The society was founded in 1974 to promote the history of the Supreme Court and improve public education concerning the court, judiciary and constitutional issues, said Director of USU Media Relations John DeVilbiss.

Hall, a noted author and expert on constitutional law, will speak before a crowd of history and political science professors and professionals from around the country on ways to involve and interest students in the study of Constitutional history.

The theme of this year’s conference is “Teaching Undergraduate Constitutional History.”

The conference is part of the society’s John Marshall Lecture Series.

Conference coordinator Jennifer Lowe said only 12 percent of the country’s universities offer courses in constitutional history.

Though USU offers a course in constitutional law, it currently has no constitutional history class.

“I do know that the president plans to teach a history course every semester,” DeVilbiss said. He said there is a possibility some of those courses may be on constitutional history.