Bellarmine University will commemorate Constitution Day with a panel discussion about U.S. voting rights on Monday, September 17.

The panel discussion, titled “The Role of the U.S. Constitution and Voting Rights," will be followed by a question and answer session. The free, public event takes place at 6:30 p.m. on Bellarmine's campus in the George G. Brown Center's Frazier Hall. Visitors to campus should enter Frazier Hall through the main doors facing the parking lot.

The panel -- moderated by Dr. Heather Pruss, assistant professor of criminal justice at Bellarmine University -- includes:

• Dr. Stephen Voss, associate professor of political science at the University of Kentucky
• Dr. Cedric Powell, professor of law at the University of Louisville's Louis D. Brandeis School of Law
• Corey Ann Howard Jackson, constituent services and policy liaison to Kentucky's Secretary of State, Alison Lundergan Grimes

"Each year, this collaborative event seeks to provide students and guests with a more intimate understanding of the constitution by drawing upon current national issues," said Natasha Begin, Bellarmine's assistant dean of students and one of the event's organizers. "Conversations about voting rights are growing more frequent on our national, state and local stages. We felt it was important to invite experts in the field to discuss how the constitution helps us frame this important issue and gain greater perspective about how voting rights impact individuals, communities and policy across our nation."

Constitution Day is celebrated annually on September 17 to honor the signing of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787. In 2004, Congress introduced legislation directing all educational institutions receiving federal funds to host an educational program in the week surrounding Constitution Day.