Owensboro Community and Technical College

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OCTC Constitution Day Event

Susan Montalvo-Gesser presents "The U.S. Constitution Supreme Law of the Land & Foundation of all law in the U.S.: Who did it protect then and now?"

by Bernie Hale

Owensboro, KY (09/03/2025) — On Monday, September 15, 2025, Owensboro Community & Technical College (OCTC) recognizes Constitution Day with a presentation titled "The U.S. Constitution Supreme Law of the Land & Foundation of all law in the U.S.: Who did it protect then and now?" by Mrs. Susan Montalvo-Gesser, at 12:30 p.m. in the Chandler Conference Center (ATC 107), located in the Advanced Technology Center, located on the main campus at 4800 New Hartford Road, Owensboro. The presentation is free and open to the public, and copies of "The U.S. Constitution and Fascinating Facts About It" are available on behalf of the Learning Resource Center on a first-come, first-served basis.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Susan Montalvo-Gesser is the Director of Catholic Charities for the Diocese of Owensboro, where she runs programming to address the social concerns of the Church, including Tornado Recovery and Immigration Services. Formerly, she was the Managing Attorney at Kentucky Legal Aid (KLA) in Owensboro, where she represented clients in issues of Family Law, Immigration cases involving Domestic Violence, Housing, and Estate Planning. Before joining the staff at KLA, Montalvo-Gesser was an associate at the law firm of Sullivan & Mountjoy, practicing Immigration law.

She is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. She is also a member of the KBA's immigration law section, public interest law section, and family law section. She is a former president of the Daviess County Bar Association. She formerly served on the Kentucky Bar Foundation Board, is a KBF Life Fellow, and a member of the KBA's Diversity Committee. She was the first female from the 1st District of Kentucky (and first Latina ever) on the Board of Governors of the Kentucky Bar Association.

Mrs. Montalvo-Gesser graduated magna cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis, where she was awarded the Freidman Prize for the best undergraduate in International or Comparative Politics. She is also a magna cum laude graduate of the Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville, where she served as an editor for the law journal and was awarded the honor of being the most outstanding graduate of the 2005 law school class. She served as a law clerk to Judge Joseph McKinley of the Western District of Kentucky from 2005 to 2006.

Mrs. Montalvo-Gesser has represented people from 79 countries in 6 continents and organized Owensboro's first Immigration Law Clinic. She was the 2019 Athena Award recipient, 2022 recipient of the Sherry Currens Excellence in Advocacy Award, and serves on several community boards, including the Daviess County Public Library, Daniel Pitino Shelter, Chamber of Commerce, and is the president of the Board of Trustees at Brescia University. She has four children: Jackie, JoJo, Michael, and CeCe, and has been married to her husband Chad for 28 years.

On Constitution Day, we recognize the anniversary of the nation's constitution and the efforts and responsibilities of all citizens in sustaining the constitution.

In the summer of 1787, delegates convened in Philadelphia to create "a more perfect union" and construct the country's constitution. They worked to develop a framework that would provide balance and freedom, considering national and state interests and individual human rights. The delegates signed the Constitution of the United States on September 17, 1787. By June 21, 1788, the Constitution was ratified, having been approved by nine of the 13 states.

In 1940, Congress created "I Am an American Day" to be celebrated on the third Sunday in May. On February 29, 1952, President Harry Truman signed into law "Citizenship Day." It was established to replace "I Am an American Day." On August 2, 1956, Congress requested that the President proclaim the week beginning September 17 and ending September 23 of each year as "Constitution Week." Another change was made to the event when a federal law enacted in December 2004 designated September 17 as "Constitution Day and Citizenship Day."

OCTC President Dr. Scott Williams commented, "We hope that the topic of this Constitution Day encourages discussion and deliberation among the students, faculty, and staff and that community members feel free to join us."

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Owensboro Community & Technical College is one of the sixteen community and technical colleges that make up the Kentucky Community & Technical College System. OCTC serves the KY counties of Daviess, Hancock, Ohio and McLean. OCTC has three campuses in Daviess County and a Center and Annex in Hancock County. OCTC strives to serve the communities in the service area by providing associate degree education for transfer, state of the art technical education for students focusing on entering the workforce, customized business and industry solutions through the Workforce Solutions division, and adult education and business and industry testing through the SkillTrain unit.

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The Kentucky Community and Technical College System is the Commonwealth's largest postsecondary institution with 16 colleges and more than 70 campuses. We also are Kentucky's largest provider of workforce training and online education. Through partnerships with business and industry, we align our programs to meet the needs of local employers. We help students fulfill their dreams of creating a better life through programs that lead directly to jobs or help them transfer to one of our four-year partners.

Connect with OCTC: Owensboro.kctcs | Facebook.com/owensboroctc | Twitter@OCTC_Tweets | Instagram OwensboroCTC

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