Unity in Community: A Modern Constitution and the ERA

Location: Black Box Studio (Cultural Arts Center, Room 7100)
Light refreshments and conversation to follow

Our Constitution is our supreme law of the land, and it calls for a more perfect union. There is no greater time to have a more perfect union, and unity in our community, our Country, as well as unity around the world.

For true unity in community our laws should be applied consistently and uniformly to ensure fairness, justice, and equality for all inhabitants within modern society. For true unity we need to examine, support, and promote the proposed Equal Rights Amendment that has repeatedly come to the floor of Congress for over 100 years and has yet to be passed.

The ERA sets forth equality in the law regardless of sex, it would solidify that laws and policies treat men and women equally and prohibit discrimination based on sex. While there are other existing legal protections based on sex, they are not woven into the fabric of our Constitution.

Sadly, around the world, where many countries have adopted our Constitution and used it as their defining template, they included women explicitly and grant women equal rights under the law, while the United States Constitution does not.

Let’s revisit the ERA together, what it stands for, the history, the call for justice, equality, and inclusivity for women. Further, in a broader context, let’s define “sex” to include all communities, in particular the vulnerable LGBTQIA+ community.

Patricia E. Szobonya, Associate Professor and Program Director of Legal Studies, Paralegal Studies, and Criminal Justice programs at Rockland Community College. She is a graduate of New York Law School and licensed to practice law in New York and New Jersey. She also teaches in the Legal Studies, Criminal Justice, Business and Multi-Cultural Studies Departments. She has participated in academic international virtual collaborations with Universities in Morocco, China, Mexico, Columbia, Dominican Republic, and South Africa. She co-authored several publications on Virtual Exchange and has presented at numerous national and international conference on topics that include social justice, culturally responsive teaching, human rights, and the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals. She is a certified human rights consultant and holds a SUNY DEI certificate with distinction. She was a recent recipient of a 2024 Overseas Faculty Development Seminar fellowship in India, an initiative by the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC).