Whereas on September 17, 1787, delegates of the United States to the Constitutional Convention signed the Constitution and sent it to the states for ratification;

Whereas the states, in the collective wisdom of their citizens, insisted on appending a Bill of Rights to the Constitution;

Whereas the U.S. Congress in 1952 designated September 17 as Citizenship Day, in commemoration of the signing of the Constitution;

Whereas in 2004 the Congress passed a law that colleges and universities should hold educational programs pertaining to the Constitution on or near September 17;

Whereas we live under the world’s longest-lived written Constitution, in a republic that best meets its ideals when knowledge of, and participation in, politics is widely held and commonplace;

Therefore we, Doug North, President of Alaska Pacific University and Elaine P. Maimon, Chancellor of the University of Alaska Anchorage declare September 12 – 17, 2005, to be Constitution Week, and encourage all to participate in the special activities and events held during this week on the APU and UAA campuses; and to remember our shared political heritage, to boldly meet our present challenges, and to contemplate the course of our common future.