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Constitution Day Essay Contest Winner

Makes Constitution Come Alive

  A Liberal Arts and Sciences: General Studies student who was in the U.S. Navy placed first in the SUNY Canton Constitution Day Essay Contest, President Joseph L. Kennedy recently announced.

"I was very excited to see the responses that the contest generated," said Kennedy. "These student writers have set a high precedent for future Constitution Day essays."

First place winner Bridget Whalen-Nevin of Morristown, a 1980 graduate of Morristown Central School, said she first found inspiration to contemplate the Constitution while on a military transport flight out of Wiesbaden, Germany in 1983. She said she had just seen President Jimmy Carter, the first person she had ever voted for as an age-eligible U.S. citizen. These thoughts lead her to think about the U.S. Constitution and the impact the Amendments have had on her life.

"The first time the polls were open to women through the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was in 1920," Whalen-Nevin wrote. "But my thoughts kept coming back to the First Amendment to the Constitution, which allowed late 19th and early 20th century women the right to protest in the first place. It's the First Amendment that breathes life into the Constitution."

She said the First Amendment paved the way for the future of this living, ever-changing document. "Being free to peaceably assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievances has opened the door for a total of 27 Amendments, each a reflection of the times and the need to maintain the union," Whalen-Nevin wrote.

"Imagine Ben Franklin's pleasure in knowing that while the Articles of Confederation lasted a mere nine years, this second-attempt Constitution, with its built-in flexibility toward cultural evolution, has endured more than two centuries of Americans; two centuries of growth from 13 states to 50, from four million people to 295 million."

There three runners-up in the Constitution Day Essay Contest:

• Kimberly Tyler, a Veterinary Science Technology major from Gouverneur, a 1994 graduate of Indian River Junior-Senior High School.
• Jamie Chase, a Liberal Arts and Sciences: General Studies major from Ogdensburg, who received her General Equivalency Diploma in 2003.
• Samantha Campbell, a Veterinary Science Technology major from Oswego, a 2004 graduate of Hannibal Central School.

September 26, 2005

Media inquiries should be directed to Gregory Kie, Media Relations Coordinator, or call 315/386-7527.

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