Penn State Dickinson Law Dean Danielle M. Conway speaking at ‘America at 250’ event

CARLISLE, PA— Penn State Dickinson Law and School of International Affairs Dean and Donald J. Farage Professor of Law Danielle M. Conway will participate in an upcoming webcast that explores the overlooked voices who shaped America’s founding ideals and constitutional development as the nation approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

“America at 250: The Power of Words – Rethinking the Declaration of Independence and the Fourteenth Amendment 2026” is a truly interdisciplinary program featuring Penn State University and Widener University leaders and researchers as well as business and community leaders from Cumberland County and Centre County.

Participants will explore how foundational documents—from the Declaration of Independence through the Fourteenth Amendment—might read differently if written with the perspectives of those historically excluded from political power. The program culminates in a dynamic “what-if” redrafting exercise inspired by ideas from Walter Isaacson’s The Greatest Sentence Ever Written, referring to this sentence from the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these Truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

This program encourages thoughtful dialogue about constitutional history, inclusion, and the enduring meaning of equality in American law.

Other participants will include:

• Jim E. Griffith, business consulting associate director at NTT DATA and systems designer at Penn State Dickinson Law’s Antiracist Development Institute
• Susan E. Etter, Pennsylvania Bar Association director of county bar services/education and special projects
• Dr. Cathleen D. Cahill, Walter L. Ferree and Helen P. Ferree Professor in Middle-American History at Penn State University
• andré douglas pond cummings, dean and professor of law at Widener University Commonwealth Law School
• Dr. Andrew K. Sandoval-Strausz, professor of history and director of Penn State University’s Latino/a Studies
• Aaron D. Martin, Mette, Evans & Woodside shareholder
• Cate Mellen, United Way of Carlisle & Cumberland County executive director and Carlisle Borough Council member