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. 

2020 Constitution Day
Stephen Gardbaum, Stephen Yeazell Endowed Chair in Law, UCLA School of Law

September 17, 2020
Cartwright Hall, Room 213
3-4 p.m.

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.

Upcoming speakers for the Distinguished Lecture Series include:

Erika George, Samuel D. Thurman Professor of Law, Quinney College of Law, The University of Utah

April 2, 2020 - This event has been cancelled.

Michael Rappaport, Hugh and Hazel Darling Foundation Professor of Law; Director, Center for the Study of Constitutional Originalism, University of San Diego School of Law
April 23, 2020 - This event has been cancelled.

More information will be forthcoming for each event as it becomes available.   

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. 

2020 Judge James Grant Iowa Constitution Lecture

James A. Gardner, Bridget and Thomas Black SUNY Distinguished Professor of Law, Research Professor of Political Science, University at Buffalo School of Law, The State University of New York

October 29, 2020
Cartwright Hall, Room 213
3-4 p.m.

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.

2021 Constitutional Law Symposium

April 17, 2021
Cartwright Hall, Room 213

More information will be forthcoming for this event as it becomes available.   

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.

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