Constitution Day
On September 17, 1787, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention met for the last time to sign the Constitution. In 2004, Congress enacted a law setting September 17 as the official federal observance of “Constitution Day and Citizenship Day”, commonly known as Constitution Day. The act mandates that all publicly-funded educational institutions and all federal agencies provide educational programming on the Constitution. In 2005, the Department of Education announced that this law applies to any school receiving federal funds of any kind.
A UM education can transform the lives of our students and empower them to create substantive and positive impact in our state, our nation, and the world. We are proud to offer Constitution Day programming in support of students across Montana.
Each year, the 91次元 commemorates the signing of the United States Constitution with a Constitution Day lecture. The Office of the Provost sponsors this annual lecture, which is free and open to the public.
This year, as part of the President's Lecture Series and co-sponsored by the Mansfield Center we are excited to welcome Robert Putnam to give a lecture about Making Democracy Work.
2025 Constitution Day Lecture
Robert Putnam: Making Democracy Work
Monday, September 15, 2025
University Center Ballroom and
7:00 p.m.
Robert D. Putnam is the Malkin Research Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University. A member of the National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the British Academy, and past president of the American Political Science Association, in 2006 he received the Skytte Prize, the world's highest accolade for a political scientist. In 2012 Barack Obama awarded Bob the National Humanities Medal, the nation’s highest honor for contributions to the humanities. He has written fifteen books, translated into twenty languages, including Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Italy and Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, both among the most cited (and bestselling) social science works in nearly a century. He has consulted for Presidents Carter, Clinton, Bush 43, and Obama, as well as presidents and prime ministers from the UK, Ireland, and Finland to South Korea and Singapore. His most recent book, The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again (2020), is a widely praised study of broad 20th century American economic, social, political, and cultural trends.