This summer, the University of Nevada, Reno’s Center for Constitutional Law, in the College of Liberal Arts, brought two of the country’s leading legal scholars to its Lake Tahoe campus. For two evenings, the Lake Tahoe community had the opportunity to sit in on the kind of constitutional argument that usually stays inside the nation’s top law schools.

Approximately 150 people attended a July 13 lecture by Vikram David Amar, distinguished professor of law at the University of California, Davis. The Prim Library building filled again on July 21 for a presentation by Burt Neuborne of New York University School of Law. Residents of Incline Village and surrounding communities joined attorneys, educators and summer visitors for the free events.

The lectures are part of the Center's growing Constitutional Scholars Speaker Series and marked the first time they were held at the Lake Tahoe campus. The strong turnout reflected significant community interest in constitutional questions that continue to shape American public life.

"At a time when civic understanding is more important than ever, the Center for Constitutional Law is creating opportunities for teachers, students and community members to engage directly with some of the nation's leading constitutional scholars," said University Executive Vice President and Provost Jeffrey S. Thompson.

Two speakers, two central questions

Vikram David Amar examined one of the central debates of American government: how authority should be divided between the states and the federal government.

He argued that the Constitution's distribution of power was designed not for efficiency, but as a safeguard against concentrated authority.

"The reason that our founders divided up powers so extensively was not to make government efficient, but to prevent any one institution within government from becoming too powerful."

"The reason that our founders divided up powers so extensively was not to make government efficient, but to prevent any one institution within government from becoming too powerful," he said.

Neuborne, who has argued more than 200 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, asked how Americans should read the founding documents in the first place. His talk examined how the Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment continue to shape American democracy.

Lawyers and judges treat the Constitution as a set of enforceable commands, he said, and that is the lowest reading available.

“The highest reading, the reading that we should aspire to, is the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment speaking to us, speaking to ordinary people in a prophetic voice,” he said.

The Summer Teacher Institute

The lectures were part of a larger two-week Summer Teacher Institute hosted by the Center for Constitutional Law in partnership with the Nevada Center for Civic Engagement.

Forty Nevada K-12 civics teachers participated in the residential program at the University's Lake Tahoe campus. The institute combined instruction from constitutional scholars with practical curriculum development led by master teachers Angela Orr, Denise Paxton, Richard Clark and Sarah Brown.

"Together, at the Lake Tahoe campus, we are building a statewide community of educators who will inspire the next generation of informed and engaged citizens.”

Along with Amar and Neuborne, participants learned from Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law.

“Our partnership with the University’s Center for Constitutional Law gives Nevada teachers an extraordinary opportunity to learn from nationally renowned constitutional law scholars,” said Christine Hull, executive director of the Nevada Center for Civic Engagement. “Together, at the Lake Tahoe campus, we are building a statewide community of educators who will inspire the next generation of informed and engaged citizens.”

The goal was to move beyond theory and help teachers translate complex constitutional questions into classroom instruction that can reach students throughout Nevada.

“One of the most incredible things about this Institute is having the opportunity to learn directly from some of the nation’s leading constitutional law scholars and simply be in their presence,” said Sonia Kretschmer, a teacher at Reed High School. “It’s truly invaluable.”

The institute also drew attention from national leaders in civic education. Donna Phillips, president and CEO of the Center for Civic Education, the national organization behind the “We the People” program, spent three days observing the program.

Speaking before Neuborne's lecture, Phillips emphasized the connection between civic education and democratic participation.

The Power of Teaching Teachers

Neuborne said that focus on teachers was one of the reasons he chose to participate.

"I was so delighted when I heard that the new program in constitutional law at the University of Nevada was going to concentrate not on more teaching of lawyers, not on more educating of judges, but of going to where the core is, and that's the high school classrooms of a country," he said.

The teachers will carry the work and lessons learned to hundreds, and likely thousands, of Nevada students this year.

"Hosting nationally recognized constitutional scholars at our Lake Tahoe campus brings academic expertise into conversation with educators and the broader community,” said Dean of the College of Liberal Arts Casilde Isabelli. “We are especially proud to support Nevada's K-12 teachers, who will take these insights back to their classrooms and help inspire the next generation of informed and engaged citizens.

As Center for Constitutional Law Executive Director Rick Trachok reiterated during the talks, the institute reflected the Center's broader mission.

"A constitutional democracy depends on an informed and engaged citizenry."

Rick Trachok, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Law at the University, speaking at the event.

"A constitutional democracy depends on an informed and engaged citizenry," Trachok said. "The Center fulfills that mission by bringing nationally recognized constitutional scholars to Nevada to educate teachers, engage the broader community through our Constitutional Scholars Speaker Series and strengthen constitutional literacy across our state."

Coming this fall

The Center’s programming continues in Reno, where it will host two more Constitutional Scholars Speaker Series events:

• Oct. 22: Akhil Reed Amar, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale Law School, and Vikram David Amar of the UC Davis School of Law.

• Dec. 8: Judge J. Michael Luttig, former judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Through these and other initiatives, the Center is establishing the University of Nevada, Reno as a leading forum for constitutional education, civic engagement and civil discourse in Nevada and beyond.

To learn more, visit the Center for Constitutional Law website

The Constitutional Scholars Speaker Series and the 2026 Summer Teacher Institute are supported in part by generous grants from the E. L. Wiegand Foundation and the Nell J. Redfield Foundation. The Nevada Center for Civic Engagement is a partner in the Summer Teacher Institute.