Constitution Day scholarship winners discuss tolerance
Constitution Day, also known as Citizenship Day, celebrates the adoption of the Constitution in 1787. // Photo courtesy of Anthony Garand.
Hofstra University hosted a Constitution Day dialogue discussion on Friday, Sept. 16, featuring a panel of three student essay winners and two experts who discussed the meaning of tolerance. The Hofstra students, who were three of 47 individuals to submit an essay, won the scholarship prize of $750 by responding to the question, “What does tolerance mean to you?”
This event was also curated by the Tolerance Means Dialogue organization, which travels around the United States to present ideas and discussions to universities.
The event began with an introduction from Hofstra University president Susan Poser, who illustrated the history of Constitution Day and its importance.
Constitution Day, also known as Citizenship Day, celebrates the adoption of the Constitution in 1787 and the individuals who have become U.S. citizens since then.
Following Poser’s opening remarks were panelists William Eskridge, the John A. Garver professor of jurisprudence at Yale Law School, and Robin Wilson, the Mildred Van Voorhis Jones Chair in Law at the University of Illinois College of Law. Eskridge and Wilson presented case studies exemplifying the conflict between tolerance and the law which reflect the extreme partisanship in America today. The event was moderated by Vice Dean Julian Ku, a Hofstra distinguished professor in constitutional law.
After the panel discussion, the three scholarship winners presented their essays and shared their personal experiences with the meaning of tolerance.
“It is a curiosity for knowledge outside of one’s worldview and humility that recognizes no one person has the monopoly on truth or morality,” said Jamin Enquist, a third-year graduate student in the Maurice A. Deane School of Law. Enquist was the first winner of the essay contest.
Ferida Osman, a second-year graduate student in the school of law, shared her personal experience with religious discrimination in a post 9/11 world. “#ToleranceMeansThat I won’t be scared to wear my hijab anymore,” she said. After being mistreated by those in her community, Osman expressed that “tolerance was more of a fallacy of the people used to cover their true intolerance.”
“To me, tolerance is not just reluctant acceptance or a pitying understanding. It is two sides coming together to make a difference,” said Meredith Frank, a sophomore undergraduate television production and studies major.
The presentation of their essays led to a question-and-answer session where audience members engaged in conversations about the importance of tolerance in society and heard more personal sentiments about how tolerance is a factor in the panelists’ lives.
“We are fractured,” Wilson said. “And we are going to stay fractured until we learn to know each other.”
In response to an audience question about how to partake in a discussion with persons of opposing beliefs, Osman said that “the biggest thing about tolerance is having patience.”
“Tolerance can really mean different things to different people based on their experience,” said Theresa Kelley, a third-year law student and the editor-in-chief of the Hofstra Law Review.
After the event, Ku stressed the importance of being able to work with people who share different views.
“It is particularly important in university that we have these conversations,” Ku said. “This is the point of being here.”
