The Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government hosted its first-ever Junior Parents Weekend (JPW) Colloquium for the parents of its Tocqueville Fellows and Constitutional Studies minors on Saturday, February 15, 2025. The event featured a colloquium-style discussion of President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, followed by a reception where students could introduce their parents to Center faculty and staff.
Over the course of the event, parents were provided with an opportunity to engage in the sort of careful discussion and close reading of a great text that characterizes their child’s education within the CCCG, while also having the chance to meet and socialize with their child’s friends and their parents. CCCG Co-Director Don Stelluto spoke about the purpose of the event as lying at the heart of the Center’s mission:
“The CCCG seeks to ‘cultivate thoughtful and educated citizens.’ Education in citizenship has a special place at this university and can help prepare undergraduates as thoughtful citizens before they go out into their careers. We also reach out to others, though, among our faculty colleagues, in the general public, and our students’ parents. Education in citizenship and the ideas and institutions of constitutional government is a lifelong task. It is a great joy to bring activities like this event to our CCCG parents.”
Parents who attended the event appreciated that sentiment and felt that the discussion of Lincoln’s “few appropriate remarks” at Gettysburg inspired further reflection on American citizenship. The Canadys, parents who traveled from Virginia for the weekend, remarked that the event helped them appreciate the role of the Center in their child’s education and stirred their own thinking on questions of citizenship, saying “the JPW experience gave us insight into the CCCG’s valuable programming that helps form Notre Dame students into virtuous citizens. It also renewed our own interest in the founding principles of our nation.”
Another parent in attendance, Natalia Pichardo, felt similarly: “The work and efforts of the CCCG in bringing students all these amazing speakers will significantly impact and challenge the students to be more involved citizens in society. I was impressed by the way they interacted in the colloquia and the discussions. The strength and the courage with which they defended their opinions, morals, and values is truly inspiring. It makes one hopeful for the future of this country!”
Stelluto, who co-led the colloquia alongside Pre-Doctoral Research Associate Luke Thompson, reciprocated the parents’ praise: “I was incredibly impressed by the quality of engagement from parents, especially their excellent questions. Parents were deeply interested by Lincoln’s address and the historical context we were able to provide… so much so that we continued with questions into the time scheduled for our reception, prompting some of my colleagues at the Center to organize a search party for us to see if we had become lost in the building.”
Due to the parents’ engagement throughout all of the programming, Stelluto suggested that the Center may consider offering more of these types of opportunities in the future for CCCG parents and guests, noting how rewarding it was to see them so engaged and participating in the type of deep thinking and analysis that their students do every day at the Center:
“I spoke to all of the parents who attended, and I invited a number of them who were interested in the deep questions we explored to sit in on some Constitutional Studies courses this fall when they return to campus for a home football game. These parents were excited about the offer to ‘go back to school’ when they come back to Notre Dame. We will be in contact with these parents as the fall approaches. Perhaps we’ll also do more of these special sessions for parents and guests and help them develop more fully their CCCG charism.”
“The Center’s mission of educating individuals in the ideals of constitutionalism extends beyond our mission to educate our students, though it starts with them. We are proud that we can offer public programming, including our robust lecture series, that extends out to those who are out of school but who have never stopped thinking deeply about the important questions of civic life. The Center wants to continue expanding how we reach these folks with our programming. Class visits for interested parents and this annual JPW event are more great ways to do just that.”
The students who attended the event also enjoyed the experience. Junior Lilian Jochmann particularly had fun seeing her parents struggle through a great text as she has often done through the course of her undergraduate career, saying that “analyzing and discussing a foundational text like the Gettysburg Address has been an integral part of my time in the Con Studies minor and as a Tocqueville Fellow.
“I was thrilled that my parents got to experience the joy (and accompanying frustration!) that comes with thinking deeply, reading critically, and learning to articulate one’s thoughts rationally. ” Jochmann continued to remark upon the incredible ability of great thinkers such as Lincoln to stimulate deep thought even among those who are not currently as habituated to such analysis:
“I initially wasn’t sure what to expect from a colloquium-style discussion—consisting of both parents and students—on arguably one of the most significant texts in American history. But Lincoln has the innate capacity to make even difficult topics accessible. His talent for invoking deep debate, combined with the wonderful support of the CCCG staff, allowed for a spirited, intellectual discussion to flourish quickly. It could have continued for hours longer.”
After the colloquia wrapped up, the evening closed in what Stelluto referred to as “classic CCCG fashion”—with a reception during which parents and students could mingle and build camaraderie after having engaged in an academic exercise. In this setting, Stelluto noted, the conversations around deep questions continued and “took on the feel of a family conversation around the dinner table.” Jochmann agreed, “I was grateful that my parents got to experience an intellectually rigorous discussion and then follow it up with a shared meal, both of which are truly special hallmarks of the CCCG.”
Indeed, she hoped the event would be ongoing, saying that she would be sure to spread the word to her sophomore friends to be on the lookout for this event when JPW approaches in 2026.
For a preview of the CCCG’s upcoming programming, visit our Events page.