MCCC to Host Two Speakers in Observance of Constitution Day, Sept. 17

Mercer County Community College (MCCC) will host two guest speakers in honor of Constitution Day, an observance on Thursday, Sept. 17 that recognizes the adoption of the United States Constitution and those who have become U.S. citizens.

El-Rhonda Williams Alston, a legislative analyst and incentive grant supervisor for the Division of Taxation for the New Jersey Department of Treasury, will give a presentation in the Communications Building, Room 108 on the West Windsor Campus, 1200 Old Trenton Road. Her lecture focuses on the legacy and impact of the 13th Amendment, the amendment to the United States Constitution that abolished slavery in 1865.

Williams Alston is the previous administrator for the New Jersey Faith-Based Initiative and a former deputy attorney general. Her civic and community activities include serving as a board member for the Association of Black Women Lawyers of New Jersey, and Affirmative Action Officer and Vice President of the NJ American Civil Liberties Union.

On the Trenton Campus, New Jersey Deputy Attorney General Denise Hollingsworth will deliver a lecture in Kerney Hall, 102 North Broad Street, entitled “Understanding Your Constitutional Rights.”

Hollingsworth is the statewide law enforcement trainer on Combined DNA Index System compliance issues. In her role, Hollingsworth has extensive collaboration with the Department of Corrections and the Administrative Office of the Courts on initiatives to collect DNA from non-compliant offenders. She has investigated and resolved multi-year backlogs of complaints of prosecutorial abuse of discretion and provided ethics advice to county prosecutors.

Both lectures are from noon to 1 p.m., and are free and open to the public. For more information on MCCC’s Distinguished Lecture Series, call (609) 570-3324 or visit www.mccc.edu/events.