Project on Constitutional Originalism and CIT

Congratulations to CIT Director J. Joel Alicea, who received the "Class Marshal" honor from the Class of 2026 at this year's Catholic Law commencement ceremony!

Student speaker Hali Woods remarked, "This honor is a way for our class to express gratitude for inspiring, guiding, and challenging us throughout our legal education."

Cheers to Prof. Alicea and the class of 2026!

Please join CIT and Hillsdale College this Thursday, April 22, for an engaging discussion on "The Declaration’s Role in Constitutional Interpretation." The event will feature Prof. Matthew Mehan, Prof. Kevin Walsh, and Prof. Bradley Watson.

About the event: 2026 marks the semi-quincentennial of the Declaration of Independence. From the Founding to the time of Lincoln to the present, American jurists have debated the Declaration’s proper role in constitutional interpretation.

Register and learn more about our distinguished speakers: https://cit.catholic.edu/events/the-declarations-role-in-constitutional-interpretation/

We are just one week away from our landmark event, “Endowed by Their Creator: Catholicism, the Declaration of Independence, and the American Experiment at 250.”

The symposium will gather leading scholars and public intellectuals to discuss the relationship between the Catholic intellectual tradition and the principles of the Declaration of Independence, as well as to foster reflection on how both Catholicism and the Declaration continue to influence and inform America's experiment in constitutional self-government 250 years after 1776.

We are proud to partner with Notre Dame’s Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Government and The Carroll Forum for Citizenship and Public Life to bring you this Conference!

Register here: https://cit.catholic.edu/events/catholicism-and-the-250th-anniversary-of-the-declaration-conference/