Constitutional Law Center Events

An integral part of the Constitutional Law Center's mission are the various lectures that invite the nation's top scholars, judges, and lawyers to campus.

Constitution Day Lecture

Each year, Drake University holds an event in honor of Constitution Day. The event usually involves a speech by a distinguished expert in constitutional law. The speaker also typically meets with the faculty at the law school.

Professor Jack Balkin, Yale Law School
"Our Polarized Constitution: Judicial Review in the Cycles of Constitutional Time"
Sept. 20, 2018
3 p.m.
Cartwright Hall, Room 213

Distinguished Lecture Series

The Constitutional Law Center's Distinguished Lecture Series brings to campus the nation's leading constitutional scholars to engage students and faculty on the important issues of the day. Speakers deliver a formal lecture, teach a class, and meet with students in informal settings.

Professor Michael Paulsen, University of St. Thomas School of Law
Nov. 1, 2018
3 p.m.
Cartwright Hall, Room 213

Judge James Grant Iowa Constitution Lecture Series

In 2012, the center initiated the Judge James Grant Iowa Constitution Lecture Series to feature prominent experts on the topic of the Iowa Constitution every other year. The event is made possible by the generous gifts of Patrick Grant, LW'76, and family.

Professor Allan Vestal, Drake University Law School
Nov. 15, 2018
3 p.m.
Cartwright Hall, Room 213

Constitutional Law Symposium

The annual Constitutional Law Symposium invites scholars, judges, and lawyers from across the country to discuss a timely constitutional issue. The proceedings are published in the Drake Law Review.

2019 Constitutional Law Symposium
"Is it Time to Amend the Constitution?"
April 13, 2019
Cartwright Hall, Room 213

Speakers include:

• Richard Albert, William Stamps Farish Professor of Law, University of Texas School of Law
• Richard S. Kay, Wallace Stevens Professor of Law Emeritus and Oliver Ellsworth Research Professor, University of Connecticut School of Law
• Sanford Levinson, W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood, Jr. Centennial Chair in Law and Professor of Government, University of Texas School of Law
• Lisa L. Miller, Professor of Political Science, Rutgers University

Dwight D. Opperman Lecture series

In 1988, Dwight D. Opperman, LW'51, former chairman of West Publishing Company, endowed the lecture series to bring the country's top jurists and legal scholars to Drake. Since then, 11 U.S. Supreme Court justices have delivered the Opperman Lecture.

See a list of the Constitutional Law Center's past events.