Posts in "Constitution Day"

By Jeff Frazee at 9:50AM

Sep 16, 2010

Constitution Day is this Friday. Let's get the Constitution in the news!

Constitution Day 2010 has nearly arrived, and if your YAL chapter is planning an event, YAL National is here to help with the publicity.

In fact, (almost) all the work has already been done for you! You can get local and campus media coverage for your chapter, your event, and the Constitution in just three easy steps:

Visit the new Resources section of the YAL website if you haven't already done so and download the new press release template specifically for Constitution Day.
Edit the press release template so it has all the correct information about your group and an enthusiastic quote from your chapter president or media relations person.
Send your edited press release to YAL's media intern, Emily O'Neill, at emily.oneill@yaliberty.org. She'll check it over and work with you to get it distributed to local media. This is the most important step! YAL has access to extensive media lists which can really boost your publicity campaign.

Try to send your press release to Emily before your event so members of the media have the opportunity to attend. However, if you miss that deadline, it is still vital that you send out a press release after your event is over.

In fact, the amount of press attention you garner is a major part of your chapter's entry into YAL's Constitution Day activism contest!

Constitution Day at Rutgers University

Thursday the 17th was Constitution Day, and colleges across the United States celebrated and showed their appreciation for this founding document. The Young Americans for Liberty at Rutgers University were no different, as members spent a good 5 hours tabling in one of the most high traffic areas on campus to raise awareness and test students' knowledge.

Custom-made constitutions provided by YAL National were distributed to students who signed up for our group and showed interest in what our group offered. We had a box of conservative and libertarian books that we were giving out to anyone who could name all ten first amendments of the Constitution -- we had zero students able to list all ten, and kept tally of this on the sidewalk in chalk for everyone to see. The greatest number that were listed was seven, by a student in the ROTC program. We also wrote out a good chunk of the Constitution along the steps we were tabling at in chalk, as it attracted attention and was an attempt to familiaize Rutgers students with this not-so-familiar document that they should be better acquainted with.

Overall, Rutgers YAL collected over 100 names of interested members and attracted the attention of many more students.

Chalking on the steps of Brower Commons

Our post for the day

YAL UW-Madison's Constitution Day Activities

Many thanks to UW-Madison chapter member Shawn Kuhn for putting this short video together of our Constitution Day activities. We set up a table at the end of State Street on a section of campus that gets plenty of foot traffic.

We engaged in some interesting debates, handed out a lot of literature, and signed up quite a few new members. We distributed over 100 pocket Constitutions, to be more precise. We also handed out various literature promoting the cause of liberty, including information about S.604, the bill in the Senate to audit the Federal Reserve.