John Dean, a former White House Counsel and current Constitutional lecturer, will kick things off for Moorpark College’s Constitution Day.
The author of books such as Conservatives Without Conscience, Blind Ambition: The White House Years, and Worse than Watergate will be the keynote speaker for the event.
“Wonderful idea for the college to have a ‘Constitution Day'” said Dean. “Too many Americans take our system of government for granted, and too few understand much about the way things really work. So I salute the college for focusing on our founding charter.”
John Dean will speak on Sept. 17 at 12:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts center of Moorpark College. A question and answer session will follow the speech, according to a statement issued by Jeanne Brown with Moorpark College Public Relations. Seating for the 400 capacity center will be on a first-come first-served basis, with no tickets or RSVP’s available.
Constitution Day is an event that was organized to compliment Moorpark College’s Year of Democracy, a series of events scheduled throughout the year that deal with Democracy and the current political climate. A forum with tables from local political groups and voter registration will be part of the festivities, as well as free food and soft drinks, according to Brown.
“I have a feeling that this will become a tradition at the college, just like Multicultural Day,” said Pam Eddinger, president of Moorpark. “Anything that helps us expose the students, faculty, and staff to a wider variety of perspectives is important for me.”
In addition to being an author, lecturer, and columnist, John Dean was also involved in the Watergate scandal while serving as the White House Counsel. His testimony before Congress in 1972 helped lead to the opening of the impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon, which threw him into the public spot light and helped with his career as a political writer.
“I have done – and I am doing – what I set out to do with my life, so it did not change my general plans at all,” said John Dean when asked how Watergate affected his life. “Given the fact that I went through it at a relatively young age (early thirties) it was a maturing experience, and certainly an education.”
“Isn’t it a wonderful thing to be allowed to hate? In public? When I first came to America, it’s a very strange concept,” said Eddinger. “But to be allowed to hate is a luxury. To have an opinion, and being allowed to say it, sometimes we really do take it for granted.”
For more information see www.moorparkcollege.edu/yearof
