The Byron R. White Center for the Study of American Constitutional Law

Our center was founded in 1990 through the generous bequest of Colorado Law alumni, Ira C. Rothgerber. Professor Melissa Hart has been the Director of the White Center since 2010. One of Professor Hart's major goals has been to expand the Center’s public visibility by instituting three new public outreach efforts:

• Colorado Law Constitution Day Project: This project launched in September 2011 and enables Colorado Law students to visit high school classrooms in honor of Constitution Day. For Constitution Day 2012, presenters taught a lesson about the Fourth Amendment.

• Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project: Through the Marshall-Brennan Project, upper-level Colorado Law students partner with public school teachers in underserved high schools to teach a course about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The project exposes high school students to higher education opportunities and encourages them to participate in a moot court competition hosted at Colorado Law each spring.

• John Paul Stevens Lecture: The Stevens Lecture brings a well-known jurist to Colorado Law each year and is open to the public. The inaugural lecture was delivered in 2011 by former U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg gave the 2012 lecture. Next year’s lecture will be delivered by former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Complementing these new outreach efforts, the Ira C. Rothgerber, Jr. Conference continues to attract prominent legal scholars from around the country. This year we celebrated the 20th Annual Rothgerber Conference by discussing "Public Constitutional Literacy."