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Whitworth political science professor to present Constitution Day lecture Sept. 17

September 11, 2015
Whitworth Professor of Political Science Kathryn Lee, Ph.D., will present the 2015 Constitution Day Lecture, “From Selma to Shelby County v. Holder: Voter Suppression in 21st-Century America.” The lecture will take place on Thursday, Sept. 17, at 7 p.m. in Weyerhaeuser Hall’s Robinson Teaching Theatre at Whitworth University. Admission is free. For more information, please call (509) 777-3834.

“As we approach the next presidential election, it is especially timely to discuss how accessible voting is to all Americans,” Lee says. “In the 2013 Shelby County decision, the Supreme Court significantly cut back the means to enforce the Voting Rights Act of 1965. No matter with which party we affiliate, we should be concerned that voting in some states is more difficult now for certain groups in our country.”

Lee is chair of the political science department at Whitworth. She rejoined the Whitworth faculty in 2011 and specializes in American politics. Last spring she visited Selma, Ala., to participate in the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March.

Constitution Day, which is officially recognized on Sept. 17, is a federally recognized national celebration of the signing of the U.S. government's founding document. The U.S. Constitution was signed on Sept. 17, 1787, by the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention, in Philadelphia, Pa.

Located in Spokane, Wash., Whitworth is a private liberal arts university affiliated with the Presbyterian church. The university, which has an enrollment of nearly 3,000 students, offers 60 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.


Contacts:

Stephanee Newman, program assistant in political science and sociology, Whitworth University, (509) 777-4512 or snewman@whitworth.edu.

Nancy Hines, director of communications, Whitworth University, (509) 777-4638 or nhines@whitworth.edu.