Constitution Week Program Schedule

Wednesday, 14 September, 7:30pm, Jobe Hall. 

"The Practice of Torture on the African Continent and in Central America"

Pat Davis, Board President, Torture Abolition and Survivors Coalition (TASSC), and Anthony Obeaga, member of TASSC relate the experiences and provide examples of how torture is used throughout the world.  Please visit their website at tassc.org.

Thursday, 15 September, 7:30pm, Jobe Hall

 "Inside the CIA's 'War on Terror"

Glenn Carle, retired Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Transnational Threats on the National Intelligence Council discusses his book The Interrogator and his experiences and responses to the practice of torture in our "war on terror." 

Thursday, 22 September, 12 noon, Jobe Hall

"The Constitution and Communities"

Dr. Ivye Allen, President, Foundation for the Mid South discusses the relationship between communities and the U.S. Constitution and our commitment to working with communities throughout the region.  

Italy - Spring Break 2012

Details to follow soon.

Constitution Week 2011

For this year's celebration of Constitution Week, the Madison Center is dedicated to remembering the victims of 9/11 who numbered nearly 3000.  The perpetrators acted under the guise of a political movement and as pretenders to a religious tradition the central tenet of which is mercy.  The attacks left behind friends, lovers, family members, and fellow workers who will never be able to fill the hollowness left by these acts of terrorism which have changed all of us forever.   

From another perspective, we were not alone on 9/12, the day after.  During those moments of private and public tragedy, the United States was joined by people from across the globe.  Exclamations of "we are with you" and "we are you" splashed across the front pages of newspapers and in news casts world-wide.  As the list of the lost lengthened, international support deepened.  The final count of victims appears below:      

The commemoration of this terrible act this year is not without its ironies.  For example, the ceremonies at ground zero will not include religious leaders.  New York Deputy Mayor Rudy Washington expressed it this way:

"This is America, and to have a memorial service where there's no prayer, this appears to be insanity to me.  I feel like America has lost its way." 

Deputy Mayor Washington's last statement may be correct, especially when we review how the United States has changed as a citizen of the world, as an international actor, and as a nation dedicated to the principles on which the Constitution was built. 

As we moved beyond 9/11, this nation turned its attention to the perpetrators.  Clearly, bringing al-Qaeda to justice was essential.  Some of our responses were proportionate and appropriate; some raised serious doubts about our techniques, sources and methods.  Yet, some of these responses to terrorism moved us in directions that were deeply disturbing to many of us.  In the end, our journey from 9/11 has expanded our military establishment, broken our budget, resulted in crippling opportunity costs at home, and freighted us with very serious ethical quandaries.   

Ten years later, a case can be made for the proposition that we have moved to the "dark side" in pursuing justice for those who died on 9/11.  We have unilaterally dismissed the sovereignty of selected nations when pursuing our targets, persecuted our own citizens under laws not unlike those from the Star Chamber in the seventeenth century, and ignored the principles of international conventions.  We have violated the Fourth Amendment with sophisticated technology, thereby trampling the principles of privacy and warrants.   We have created paramilitary organizations run by government agencies that wage clandestine operations even though our Constitution requires Congress to declare war.  And, we have even kidnapped citizens of other countries under the rubrics of extraordinary rendition, sending them to undisclosed locations for what we call "interrogation." 

Of all the practices we have adopted, few are as regrettable or reprehensible as the use of torture in interrogating of those we label "persons of interest."   This year's discussion will revolve around the use of torture as a means for our own protection and whether this practice has changed us as a constitutional republic.

For this year's Constitution Week, the Madison Center will take stock of the role of torture in the "war on terror" throught our invited speakers who come from human rights organizations and from the intelligence community.  These discussions will take place over two consecutive nights, 14 and 15 September, in Jobe Hall Auditorium. In the week that follows, we will turn our attention to another topic, the relationship between communities, the Constitution and funding programs that can improve the lives of citizens of the Delta.  Here are our speakers.

Pat Davis is an author, poet and playwright who has worked as a translator, editor, Poet-in-the-Schools and human rights advocate.   With Dianna Ortiz, she co-authored The Blindfold’s Eyes: My Journey from Torture to Truth, winning Best First-Time Author and Best Biography awards from the Catholic Press Association of North America and Canada.  The book also won a Best Spiritual Book of the Year Award from Spirituality and Health magazine.   Her poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and her play, Alternative Methods, was produced in the Capital Fringe and the New York International Fringe festivals.   She is former executive director of the Guatemala Human Rights Commission and current board president of the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition.

Anthony Obeaga is Ibo and was born in Nigeria, where at age 1, he and his family fled to Cameroon from the Nigerian civil war.  He returned to Nigeria 19 years later and completed undergraduate and postgraduate studies in Literatures and Business Administration.  Anthony ran a foreign radio language and music program in Port Harcourt, which afforded him an opportunity to criticize torture; he also took part in environmental and anti-discrimination activities protesting the brutal military regimes.  In 2000, Anthony fled to England where he tutored, mentored and provided “life skills training” to “at-risk” juvenile offenders, and continued speaking out against torture by military regimes.  In 2001, Anthony was granted asylum in the U.S.A. Anthony is member of Torture Abolition and Surviros Support Coalition International and has given presentations on and against world-wide torture at different events including; schools, universities, medical practitioners, social work professionals and conferences throughout the United States and several other countries. In this regard, Anthony has testified before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, addressed congress on several occasions, addressed senators on torture related issues as well as lobbied congress on appropriations. Together with Amnesty International, Anthony worked assiduously to get the McCain amendment bill on torture passed by visiting and talking to representatives and senators.

Glenn L. Carle served twenty-three years in the Clandestine Services of the Central Intelligence Agency, working in a number of overseas posts on four continents and in Washington, DC. Mr. Carle has worked on terrorism issues at various times since the mid-1980s. He has worked extensively on Balkan, Central American, and European political, security, and economic issues. His last position was as Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Transnational Threats, on the National Intelligence Council, where his office was responsible for strategic analysis of terrorism, international organized crime, and narcotics issues.

Mr. Carle holds a B.A. in Government from Harvard University, and a M.A. in European Studies and International Economics from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.  He did additional graduate work in International Relations at the Institut d’études politiques de Paris, France, and studied at the Université de Grenoble, France. Mr. Carle speaks French and Spanish fluently.  Mr. Carle is a former hockey player and was elected to his hometown’s Athletic Hall of Fame. 

The Constitution and Communities

Finally, and separate from the above topic, we will address the connections between the Constitution and the role we can play in our communities as dedicated citizens.  With us on Thursday, 22 September, will be Dr. Ivye L. Allen

Dr. Ivye L. Allen. Dr. Allen is President of the Foundation for the Mid South, a regional foundation serving Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The Foundation funds programs and initiatives that focus on community development, education, health and wellness, and wealth building. Since it’s inception in 1990, the Foundation has leveraged more than $750 million to the region.  Prior work experience includes serving as Chief Operating Officer for MDC Inc. and Director of Fellowship Programs for the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.  Before working in the nonprofit arena, Ivye’s early experience was in finance and marketing positions in fortune 100 corporations.  Her education includes a Ph.D. in social policy from Columbia University; a M.S. in Urban Affairs from Hunter College; a M.B.A. in marketing and international business from New York University; and a bachelor’s in economics from Howard University.  She serves on numerous board and advisory groups and is a member of several professional and social organizations.