Professor Sparks Project to Bring Liberty Bell Replica to Campus
VICTOR ARAIZA
THE SIGNAL
On the Fourth of July, fireworks, family barbecues and communities painted in red, white and blue mark the birthday celebration of the United States of America. That’s not the case on Sept. 17.
Sept. 17 is Constitution Day, known as Citizen Day until 2004, and it is the anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution. It marks the establishment of the U.S. government and might be the second most important date in U.S. History. James Benson, associate professor of Legal Studies, wants to increase an interest in days like Constitution Day and plans to do so by bringing a replica of the Liberty Bell to the university.
“I was looking for something that would help us jumpstart a conversation on this campus about the constitution, the bill of rights, and the declaration of independence,” Benson said. “By that I mean that we go back and study the constitution, what the terms and phrases mean, understand how we came about historically, which is important in understanding what we’re doing today in this country. ”
Benson, who was involved in the development of UHCL’s Veterans Day Celebration and the installment of Liberty Park, initiated a call to action to a report by the Association of American Colleges and Universities titled “A Crucible Moment: College Learning & Democracy’s Future.” The report is one of three presented at a White House event in January 2012 where national leaders in Education gathered to address the state of civic education in U.S. schools. It “documents the nation’s anemic civic health and includes recommendations for action that address campus culture, general education, and civic inquiry as part of major and career fields as well as hands-on civic problem solving across differences.”
Benson developed a four-point plan that consists of the development of civic education courses at UHCL, elevating the constitution day celebration on campus, a partnership with the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, and bringing a replica of the Liberty Bell to UHCL. University President William A. Staples approved his proposal.
Benson’s plan to incorporate civic education courses began this past summer with the first being “LEGL 4234 – Constitutional Law.” Benson plans to offer the course each summer with the possibility of adding sections beginning with the 2014 fall semester. There is also a possibility of integrating a trip to the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia as part of the course.
Benson’s proposal recommends a redesign of the north entrance area of the Bayou Building into a mural timeline depicting important advances in civic rights pertaining to U.S. History like the Articles of Confederations and, of course, the U.S. Constitution. The Liberty Bell replica would be placed in the middle of this education center facing the Student Services Building and Alumni Plaza.
“It’s not enough to just sit the bell there,” Benson said. “We want to take that back wall and highlight key documents, key events, key dates, that led up to the signing of the Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787. That wall is a teaching lesson that local schools can bring their children over and they can sit around the bell and talk about the Constitution and Bill of Rights. There so many important things we can put on that wall so we want to make that space a classroom, even for the general public to walk in, look at the bell, look at the wall and see these critical dates.”
The UHCL Liberty Bell will be one of two replicas of the iconic bell in the state of Texas but the only one cast by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London, the same company that cast the Liberty Bell in 1752. The other replica is at Texas A&M University in College Station suspended from the rotunda dome of the Academic Building.
Community involvement might be the biggest key component to this project because this one is funded entirely by private contributions, which means no funds come from the university.
“We reached $50,000 in about 4-5 months and that helped us get to have the bell ordered,” stated Elbby Antony, assistant director of development of University Advancement. “A lot of them were from individual alumni whom you will see pictures of hanging on the walls in Atrium I. We are community minded partnership oriented university, as Dr. Staples always likes to say, this is a very good practical example of how that came about.”
Anyone looking to contribute to the Liberty Bell project can find out more information by visiting uhcl.edu/libertybell or by calling (281) 283-2016. The bell will make its way to the University of Houston-Clear Lake as early as this coming November.
