Lawrence keynoted the school’s commemoration of Constitution Day 2023, which kicked off a in celebration of as UofL’s 19^th president and was part of the yearlong series of events marking the university’s 225^th anniversary.

Lawrence today is the secretary of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and was previously president of Brandeis University and dean of George Washington University’s School of Law. His topic was the role of universities in a fully functioning democracy.

He opened with a quotation from Justice Louis D. Brandeis: “If we are to be led by the light of reason, let our minds be bold.” And he closed with a quote from Brandeis’ protégé, Justice Felix Frankfurter: “To regard teachers—in our entire educational system, from the primary grades to the university—as the priests of our democracy is … not to indulge in hyperbole.”

“It is the special task of teachers to foster those habits of open-mindedness and critical inquiry which alone make for responsible citizens who in turn make possible an enlightened and effective public opinion (needed to create a functioning democracy),” he said.

“A renewed and strengthened national commitment to accessible and inclusive education will not only permit members of our society to live more meaningful lives, and more productive lives, but it will allow our nation to resist authoritarian impulses and embrace the openness of mind and spirit that are as essential today for a self-governing people in a democratic society as they were … 236 years ago when the framers signed the Constitution. …

“Indeed, the ultimate authority of their signing and the ultimate authority to which we must continue to appeal and which our nation is duty bound to educate, is, ‘We the People.’”

Lawrence’s address was followed by a spirited panel discussion that included Brandeis Law professors Cedric Merlin Powell, Enid Trucios-Haynes and Joe Dunman and UofL General Counsel Angela Curry.

The presentation can be viewed in its entirety A photo gallery from the event is

The University of Louisville’s English department presents the 2016 Phi Beta Kappa Lecture with support from the Phi Beta Kappa Association of Kentuckiana.

Shapiro’s talk at the Main Library, 301 York St., is part of the . UofL, Louisville Free Public Library and the Frazier History Museum are the chief sponsors, but there are more than 45 community partners helping to mark the 400^th anniversary of the author’s death. The “First Folio! The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare” exhibition at the Frazier History Museum will run Nov. 10-Dec. 10, and several UofL professors will give gallery talks.

Shapiro will draw from his “Shakespeare in America” anthology, which he edited for the Library of America, to discuss how American writers from all regional, social, ethnic and political sectors have turned to Shakespeare in exploring issues that defined and divided the United States. His other books include “Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare?” and “1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare” and “The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606,” expected this fall.

Shapiro is the Larry Miller professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University. He serves on the Royal Shakespeare Company and Folger Shakespeare Library boards; the Folger, Cincinnati Museum Center and American Library Association have made the traveling First Folio exhibit possible through a grant.

The event is free but tickets are required. Register at LFPL.org or call 502-574-1644.