USC Sumter to host Constitution Day program on Sept. 11

The University of South Carolina Sumter will host a Constitution Day program on Monday, Sept. 11, at noon in the USC Sumter Arts and Letters Lecture Hall. The event is free, open to the public, suitable for all ages and promises to be educational and fun. There will be pocket-sized Constitutions while supplies last and refreshments.

Constitution Day is an American federal observance that recognizes the adoption of the United States Constitution and those who have become U.S. citizens. The featured speaker for the event will be Judge Aphrodite Konduros, who is a member of the S.C. Court of Appeals. Konduros' presentation will focus on her thoughts on many of the nation's present challenges, relying on insights from the Founding Fathers and encouraging all to "engage in the conversation" surrounding our most important document.

Konduros serves as vice chairman of the Chief Justice's Commission of the Profession, as a member of the S.C. Senate Judiciary Sentencing Reform Commission, subcommittee chairman of the Supreme Court Family Court Docketing Committee, a member of the S.C. Bar's Vulnerable Adult Task Force, a member of the S.C. Bar Pro Bono Board and on the Lawyers Helping Lawyers Board.

She is also the 2013 recipient of the American Board of Trial Advocates' Jurist of the Year Award. She was elected to Family Court in February 2002.

On Feb. 6, 2008, Judge Konduros was elected to the S.C. Court of Appeals to finish the unexpired term of Chief Justice Donald W. Beatty. Judge Konduros served as an adjunct professor for the Charleston School of Law for many years and was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2016. She and her husband, Sam Konduros, live in Greenville and Seabrook Island, South Carolina.

"Constitution Day has become a great tradition at USC Sumter over the last several years, and we really look forward to hosting members of the Sumter community on our campus each September," said Damien Picariello, Ph.D., USC Sumter associate professor of political science and organizer of Constitution Day. "This year, we're honored to hear from Judge Konduros about the importance of the Constitution and its contemporary relevance."