U. throws support behind museum about Constitution

More than 200 years after Ben Franklin helped draft the Constitution, the university he founded has joined forces with city leaders pushing for a National Constitution Center. In June, Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell announced detailed plans for a museum and academic clearinghouse on the Constitution. The University will play an integral role in its development. The center -- which will be built on Independence Mall between 5th and 6th streets and Race and Arch streets -- is scheduled to break ground on Constitution Day, September 17, in the year 2000, and will cost an estimated $123 million. Flanked by University President Judith Rodin, Rendell explained that Penn will link the center with scholars of the Constitution from around the world. University faculty and staff will organize conferences, symposia and radio programming on constitutional issues and develop a state-of-the-art Web site. "This academic partnership is incredibly important to the growth of the NCC," Rendell said. "Beyond emphasizing Philadelphia as the historical home of the Constitution, it establishes Philadelphia as the home for contemporary constitutional discussions and ideas," Rendell said. Rodin explained that the University's commitment to the center has grown out of the administration's five-year Agenda for Excellence, which "commits the University to an expansion of research and teaching programs concerning democratic and legal institutions in America and around the world." "This new focus will involve several different schools at Penn and should lead to the recruitment of distinguished new faculty whose work focuses on issues of constitutionalism and and democracy," she said. She added that the University will "create some exciting new interdisciplinary programs for undergraduate students" and "nurture a number of related initiatives already underway, such as a new, student-edited constitutional law journal." As part of the University's connection, History Professor Richard Beeman -- an American Revolution scholar -- will serve as its first visiting fellow, and Graduate School of Fine Arts Dean Gary Hack will act as senior consultant for design and site-planning. Rendell also presented an short video entitled Imagine a Place -- narrated by actor James Earl Jones, former President George Bush and newscaster Andrea Mitchell, a University trustee -- which portrays the visitor experience at the planned Constitution Center museum. He said the video will be shown to government, business and foundation leaders -- including President Clinton -- to launch a national fundraising campaign. "As the video shows, the Constitution Center will be unlike any other museum experience," center president Joseph Torsella said. "Visitors will leave the center with a profound sense of the integral role the Constitution played in their history and the role it continues to play in their everyday lives." Visitors will receive cards designating them delegates to the Constitutional Convention and the tour will begin in 18th-century Philadelphia, evoking the sights and sounds of the conflicts that forged the nation. The museum will include interactive exhibits and simulations which will allow visitors to explore the Constitution as both the framework for government and the protector of individual rights. Visitors will also examine and vote on current constitutional issues -- such as the Balanced Budget Amendment. As the tour concludes, they will "sign" the Constitution with a laser pen and receive a parchment replica of the document with their signature among those of the founding fathers. "We have no illusions that [funding the new museum] will be easy," Rendell said. "But this will be a museum of immense importance."