An Alabama Supreme Court justice and a senior federal district court judge will provide lectures on two days celebrating Constitution Day in September.
On Sept. 16, Alabama Supreme Court Justice Will Sellers will be the keynote speaker at a 5:30 p.m. lecture in Hawkins-Adam-Long Hall of Honor, with a reception to follow.
Sellers was appointed to the Alabama Supreme Court by Gov. Kay Ivey to replace Justice Lyn Stuart, who had been elevated to Chief Justice of Alabama in May 2017. He ran unopposed for the seat in 2018, and again in 2023. His term expires in 2025. In 2016, Sellers was a member of the electoral college, his fourth time to serve as a presidential elector from Alabama, and he practiced law at the Montgomery firm of Balch & Bingham from 1989 until 2017. He completed his undergraduate studies at Hillsdale College in Michigan, his juris doctorate at the University of Alabama and a Master of Laws degree in Taxation from New York University.
“Studying the Constitution isn’t just for law students or history enthusiasts—it’s essential for every American who wants to understand how our country operates. While debates over its meaning are part of civic life, the Constitution is our governing framework,” said Dr. Allen Mendenhall, Associate Dean and the Grady Rosier Professor in the Sorrell College of Business. “To actively participate in citizenship, you must understand its core principles. In these divided times, we need more people engaging with our foundational ideas, not fewer.”
Constitution Day – Sept. 17 – celebrates the official birthday of the United States, when the Constitution was signed by members of the Continental Congress in their final meeting.
At 2 p.m. on Sept. 17, Senior United States District Judge Keith Watkins will deliver a lecture in the Trojan Center Ballrooms, hosted by the College of Arts and Sciences and the Pre-Law Society.
Watkins, who served as Chief Judge of the Middle District of Alabama from 2011 until 2019, is a Pike County, AL native who completed his undergraduate degree at Auburn University before completing his juris doctorate at the University of Alabama. He was nominated for the federal bench in 2005 by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in December of that year. He assumed senior judge status in 2019.
“Constitution Day, along with Independence Day and Presidents’ Day, is an important part of the cultural heritage of the United States of America, because it recognizes the value of the American experiment, and the success of a nation of free people whose rights and liberties are protected by a written Constitution,” said Dr. Adam Rutkowski, an Assistant Professor of Political Science and advisor for the University’s Pre-Law and Accelerated Law programs.
