From BGSU OFFICE OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
Bowling Green State University will host two public lectures to commemorate Constitution Week. The week is dedicated to promoting the study of the U.S. Constitution, which was adopted on Sept. 17, 1787. The virtual lectures are free and open to the public.
Mary Beth Tinker will present “Mighty Times: Youth Voices and the First Amendment” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16. Tinker is an American free speech activist known for her role in the 1969 Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District Supreme Court case that established schoolhouse rights for teachers and students. Justice Abe Fortas wrote in the majority opinion that students and teachers do not “shed their constitutional rights … at the schoolhouse gate.”
Tinker continues to educate young people about their rights, speaking frequently to student groups across the country. She is a retired pediatric nurse as well as an advocate for the rights of youth, particularly in the areas of health and education. She is active in her union, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and holds master’s degrees in public health and nursing.
To access the WebEx Events virtual presentation, visit bgsu.edu/tinkertalk.
At 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17, Kimberly Wehle will discuss “How to Read the Constitution – and Why.” Wehle is an author, a lawyer, a professor of law at the University of Baltimore School of Law and a legal expert. She is a former legal analyst for CBSNews, appearing on “Face the Nation” with Margaret Brennan. She is a regular guest on MSNBC, CNN, BBC and NPR, and has appeared on FoxNews, C-SPAN and PBS. Wehle is a contributor to Politico, The Atlantic, The Bulwark, and The Hill, and has written for the Baltimore Sun and Los Angeles Times.
A practicing lawyer for more than 25 years, Wehle is a former assistant U.S. attorney, an associate independent counsel in the Whitewater Investigation and an experienced appellate and civil litigator. Wehle received her J.D. cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School where she was an editor of the Michigan Law Review. Her undergraduate degree is from Cornell University, where she was Phi Beta Kappa and graduated magna cum laude in English. She is the author of the books “How to Read the Constitution—and Why” and “What You Need to Know About Voting—and Why.”
To participate in the Wehle event, visit bgsu.edu/kimwehle.
Arrangements for the appearance of Kimberly Wehle were made through HarperCollins Speakers Bureau of New York. Constitution Week speakers and events are made possible thanks to the generosity of BGSU alumnus William Arnold ’74.
