Columbia State Community College in collaboration with the African American Heritage Society of Maury County will sponsor a Constitution Day program “How Do We Elect our President? The Electoral College and the Popular Vote” continuing the theme “Democracy in America” on September 18 at 6 p.m. in the Clement Building’s Ledbetter Auditorium on the Columbia Campus.

“The Columbia State History Department is excited to partner with the African American Heritage Society of Maury County on this year’s Constitution Day program,” said Dr. Barry Gidcomb, Columbia State dean of the Humanities and Social Sciences Division and professor of history. “The topic is important and the panelists are outstanding in their fields. Anyone interested in how we elect our president will want to attend this program.”

This event is a part of the companion programming in support of the Smithsonian exhibit, “Voices and Votes: Democracy in America,” which is currently on display at the Maury County Public Library and is funded, in part, by Humanities Tennessee.

“Since the 2024 Presidential election process is underway with the primary debates, the African American Heritage Society decided that a discussion about the Electoral College was timely,” said Jo Ann McClellan, African American Heritage Society president.

Program participants include:

Dr. Mark R. Cheathem, Cumberland University professor of history and editor of the Martin Van Buren Papers. A graduate of Cumberland University’s undergraduate history program, Cheathem received his Master of Arts degree in history from Middle Tennessee State University and his Ph.D. in history from Mississippi State University. Cheathem is the author or editor of seven books, including the award-winning “Andrew Jackson, Southerner.” His most recent book is “The Coming of Democracy: Presidential Campaigning in the Age of Jackson.” Since 2015, Cheathem has been the project director and co-editor of the Papers of Martin Van Buren. Housed in Cumberland University’s Vise Library, the project is producing digital and print editions of the eighth president’s papers.

Dr. Michael P. Federici is a professor of political science at Middle Tennessee State University. He served as department chair from 2017-2022. He is in his thirty-fourth year of college teaching. He received his Ph.D. in politics in 1990 and Master of Arts degree in 1985 from The Catholic University of American in Washington, D.C., as well as his Bachelor of Science degree in economics from Elizabethtown College in 1983. Federici has published six books.

Attorney Rhonda D. Hooks is a native of Maury County and has been practicing law for over 19 years in the church, criminal and juvenile law arenas. Additionally, she has represented hundreds of churches and pastors in various capacities. She attended Columbia State Community College, Middle Tennessee State University, the University of Memphis and the Texas Southern University in Houston Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Texas. In 2002, Hooks became the first African-American female attorney admitted to the Maury County Bar from Mt. Pleasant, and is currently licensed to practice in the Middle & Western Districts of the US Districts Courts. Hooks published “Has the Electoral College Outlived Its’ Stay?” in the Thurgood Marshall Law Journal.

John R. Vile, Ph.D., dean and professor of political science at Middle Tennesee State University. Vile is a graduate of the College of William and Mary and earned his Ph.D. in government from the University of Virginia as well as attended seminars sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities at Princeton and the University of Iowa. He has served as chair of the department of social sciences at McNeese State University, chair of the department of political science and dean of the University Honors College at Middle Tennessee State University. Vile is a scholar of the U.S. constitutional amending process, American historic documents and prominent political symbols and has written and edited numerous books, essays, chapters and reviews on related topics. He is also the general editor of a series of books on “Landmark Congressional Legislation” for Greenwood publishers.

The event is free and open to the public. The Ledbetter Auditorium is in the Frank G. Clement Building on the Columbia Campus, located at 1665 Hampshire Pike.