Seventy student delegates gathered on the UAA campus on Friday and Saturday April 11-12 as a UAA student Alaska Constitutional Convention. Inspiration for the convention were the 50th anniversary of Alaska statehood, and Article XIII, Section 3 of the Alaska constitution which provides for voters to be asked once in ten years whether they wish to hold a convention. The object of the student convention was education, to provide UAA students an opportunity to study the Alaska constitution and Alaska government and politics, significant public policy issues in Alaska today, and to reflect on the importance of the 50th anniversary.
Over three plenary and two breakout sessions, the students formulated and debated a series of resolutions proposing changes to Alaska’s constitution. Many of the students were enrolled in courses offered by the Justice Center and the history and political science departments where participation in the convention was a course requirement option. Other students self-selected participation in the exercise from personal interest. A small faculty steering committee, assisted by a student and a former Alaska Attorney General, designed and planned the convention. The committee created a Blackboard site (UAA’s electronic course management system) at the beginning of spring semester on which were posted the Alaska constitution, and a variety of teaching and learning resources. The site also provided an information and communication function. Students met in three general preparatory sessions during the semester before the convention; there they divided into seven study groups focused on various aspects of the Alaska constitution (e.g., the judicial article, fiscal matters, administration). Student group leaders led electronic discussions of various issues. Local attorneys volunteered to meet with the groups to help them understand the constitutional implications of proposed resolutions. At the final general preparatory session the delegates elected a convention president and vice-president, each study group having nominated one candidate for the positions.
The steering committee determined that activity at the convention should be governed by Parliamentary procedure, using a modified Roberts Rules of Order. Former Attorney General Bruce Botelho graciously agreed to serve the convention as Parliamentarian, and led in devising the modified Roberts Rules. Six “expert advisors,” including Vic Fischer and Katie Hurley, assisted at the convention. The first plenary began with ceremonial introduction of the experts and the Parliamentarian, installation of the convention officers, and remarks by Mr. Botelho memorializing Tom Stewart. Convention rules permitted each group to introduce three potential resolutions; these were formally read at Plenary I. Students then dispersed to breakout sessions where they discussed their resolutions, selected two to bring to the convention floor, and voted whether or not to endorse bringing to the floor resolutions proposed by all the other groups. Chancellor Ulmer addressed the delegates at lunch; her remarks raised the historical consciousness of the delegates and added a desirable and effective gravitas to the proceedings.
At Plenary II, delegates debated, but did not vote on, fourteen proposed resolutions, each group having designated speakers for and against each. Delegates then proceeded to a second breakout were they again discussed, and in some cases amended, their resolutions.
At Plenary III, delegates again debated, and then voted on fourteen proposed resolutions. The debates were spirited, informed and civil. Delegates approved resolutions calling for a rural preference for subsistence harvest of traditional resources, for the addition of “sexual preference and gender identity” to the constitutional language barring discrimination, elimination of the mandatory retirement age for judges, among others. They rejected dedication of a percentage of Permanent Fund earnings to education, and constitutional responsibility for health insurance, and for pre-school education and day-care, among others. The convention concluded with appropriate expressions of gratitude to the expert advisors and those who helped organize the event.
All proposed resolutions will be included in a small print publication which will be sent to Governor Palin, to all Alaska legislators, to the Alaska Supreme Court, and other Alaska leaders.
The convention was supported by a $10,000 grant from the Alaska Humanities Forum, and a $10,000 grant from the University of Alaska. Grant funds were utilized for direct convention expenses, including publicity, arrangements (lunch catering, video-taping, e.g.), and honoraria for the expert advisors; the committee hired one student aide ($2,000) and provided three-credit tuition waivers to six student group leaders. $1,250 total was used for salary for three members of the steering committee. Grant funds will also cover website and publication costs. The committee is very grateful for this generous support which facilitated doing the job right.
The steering committee finds four principal results of the exercise. First, over seventy students spent two and a half months studying the Alaska constitution. Few of them had ever read the document, or studied any constitution. We believe they learned a great deal about constitutionalism, and the Alaska constitution specifically. Second, the study, and much more the convention, raised student consciousness about the 50th anniversary of the writing of the Alaska constitution, and Alaska statehood. We believe many of the students involved would not otherwise have thought much about the anniversary. Third, none of the students had ever participated in a two-day meeting governed by parliamentary procedure. Virtually all went away from the convention with an appreciation for parliamentary debate as an integral and necessary part of democratic governance. This was an eye-opener. Finally, the students learned much about the issues they debated, both philosophically and procedurally; debating pro and con broadened their perspective as well as helped them grasp content. In addition, the committee is gratified that the convention provided a way to bring UAA more directly into the 50th anniversary of Alaska statehood.
