Penn faculty members gathered in front of College Hall on Monday to recite American founding documents that speakers said hold increased significance in the current political climate.
The April 7 event featured ten professors from the Political Science, Physics, Math, and Sociology departments took turns reciting passages from documents including the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, and the Federalist Papers. Several individuals gathered to observe the 45-minute reading.
The reading occurred as legal experts across the country have called into question the constitutionality of several recent federal actions taken by 1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump’s administration.
These actions include an executive order to ban birthright citizenship and attempts to freeze Congressionally appropriated funds to federal agencies. As a result, some political scholars nationwide have gone as far as to declare a constitutional crisis.
Political Science professor and speaker Daniel Hopkins emphasized the importance of the “timeless American values and principles” in the documents while noting that that those same values “increasingly under strain.”
“A highly diverse country and society like the United States requires a firm commitment to norms and to laws to figure out how we’re going to resolve our disagreements in a peaceful, practical way,” Hopkins told The Daily Pennsylvanian. “Our founding documents lay out an unparalleled pathway.”
At the gathering, faculty members held up signs reading “defend them” and “know your rights.” The reading did not include any political rhetoric beyond what was present in the documents themselves.
On Monday, Penn’s International Student and Scholar Services informed community members that “at least three” students have had their visas revoked and immigration status terminated. The University has also been the target of significant federal action in recent weeks including a $175 million funding freeze which the White House attributed to Penn's failure to bar transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports.
Faculty members say they plan to return to College Green to recite additional founding documents in the coming weeks.
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