COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (Sept 2, 2009) — An all-star cast of musicians will present a multi-media experience based on an “only in America” storyline for the 5th Annual Nolan Fowler and Elaine Fowler Palencia Constitution Day Celebration held at Tennessee Tech University.

Freedom Sings, an event featuring music that has been banned, censored or has sounded call for social change, will be presented at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15, in TTU’s Derryberry Hall Auditorium. Organizers describe the event as an “entertaining, irreverent and inspiring program packed with live music and video imagery and featuring hit songwriters and Grammy Award winners.

"Unlike most educational institutions that have little or no money with which to fund Constitution Day, Tennessee Tech is able to offer a first-rate program each year to provoke thought among our students, as well as those in the community, about one of the most important documents in our nation's history, thanks to Professor Fowler's generous gift,” said Kent Dollar, TTU’s Constitution Day committee chairperson.

Nolan Fowler taught history at TTU from 1962-1979, including classes on constitutional law. He endowed a fund with $150,000 to sustain this event each year to promote knowledge of the U.S. Constitution. Fowler, an outstanding track and field athlete in high school and at Morehead University, was inducted in the Ohio Valley Conference Hall of Fame in 2001.

This celebration will be the first without Fowler, who passed away in 2008; his daughter, Elaine Fowler Palencia, is expected to attend the event to honor her father.

All educational institutions receiving federal funds are required each year in September to host a celebration commemorating the Sept. 17, 1787, signing of the U.S. Constitution.

In a survey conducted by the National Constitution Center, students have more knowledge of pop culture than they have of the U.S. Constitution. In that survey, less than 2 percent of respondents knew James Madison was considered the father of the U.S. Constitution, but almost 60 percent knew Bill Gates is considered the father of Microsoft.

For more information about the event, call Constitution Day Committee member Tiff Rector at 372-3159.

--Karen Lykins
This information posted 3 September 2009