The Student Government Association’s (SGA) 67th General Assembly hosted a “Constitution Day Celebration” on Monday, Sept. 17, at noon in the Duncan Ballroom of the UC.
The event, held fittingly on Constitution Day, featured guest speaker J. Houston Gordon, a UTM class of 1968 alumni and trial lawyer at J. Houston Gordon Law Office in Covington.
Current SGA President Devin Majors introduced the Camden native to the crowd before handing the podium over to Gordon. Gordon’s speech centered around the U.S. Constitution and the erosion of individual liberty.
At the start of his speech, Gordon related himself with the members of the audience by describing his upbringing and relation to West Tennessee. He then proceeded to describe the tense political climate at the time during the year he graduated, which was during the midst of the Vietnam War.
In 1973, Gordon was the court-appointed lawyer for U.S. Army Lieutenant William Calley, who was the only one convicted for the infamous My Lai massacre of 1968. Gordon emphasized that he had “not yet turned 25” at the time he was appointed to defend Calley.
After a talk about the Bill of Rights, Gordon moved on to the topic of the erosion of individual rights in America.
The lawyer divided this topic into three examples: A 2010 Supreme Court ruling that prohibits the government from restricting independent expenditures for communications by corporations, a 2011 Tennessee Legislature ruling regarding economic damages to injured Tennesseans, and abuse of executive power.
Gordon emphasized the importance of the media by mentioning their role in exposing the Watergate Scandal, spreading Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s message and exposing the Holocaust to the American public.
“I don’t care if its a Republican, Democrat or Independent,” Gordon said, “when the chief executive of this country spits out lies and then accuses the media of distorting it, we’ve got a problem… The parallel to 1968 is so apparent its scary.”
Afterward, Gordon took some time to answer questions from the crowd and encouraged everyone to read up on both the Tennessee and U.S. Constitutions.
When asked if the SGA Constitution takes inspiration from the U.S. Constitution, Majors said,
“I think it does. The Constitution of the United States is a really powerful document and I think – a lot of local governments, state governments and even down to [the] college level- we all draw inspiration from the United States Constitution.”
Audience members were also given a chance to register to vote at the voter registration drive that took place alongside of SGA’s celebration.
