Newberry College | Constitution Keynote Speaker 2026

Newberry College commemorated Constitution Day on Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 7 p.m. with a keynote address by the Hon. Joseph F. Anderson, Jr., United States District Judge for the District of South Carolina. The event took place in the Gnann Conference Room at the Center for Teacher Education, located at 1121 Speer St. Constitution Day, officially observed on Sept. 17, marks the 1787 signing of the United States Constitution by delegates in Philadelphia, concluding the Constitutional Convention. The nation's founding document was later amended in 1791 to include the Bill of Rights. Judge Anderson earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Clemson University and a Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law. Confirmed by the U.S. Senate in October 1986, he became the youngest federal judge in South Carolina history at the time of his appointment. He served as Chief Judge of the District of South Carolina from 2000 to 2007 and assumed senior status in November 2014. For over two decades, Anderson has taught at the University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law. He currently serves as the Fourth Circuit representative to the Judicial Conference of the United States, the principal policy-making body for the federal judiciary.