Mary Matalin, conservative political commentator and former presidential adviser, will present a keynote address titled "Populism, Polemics and Polarization in 21st-Century Politics" as CCU celebrates Constitution Day 2017 on Thursday, Sept. 14, at 5 p.m. in Wheelwright Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.

"Mary Matalin is a veteran political counselor whose expertise and insight is greatly needed in this interesting political environment," said Frederick Wood, CCU chair and associate professor in the Department of Politics.

Matalin served as deputy campaign manager on President George H.W. Bush's 1992 re-election bid and was later an assistant to President Bush and counselor to Vice President Dick Cheney. Matalin is a frequent guest on many network and cable news programs and is co-author of "All's Fair: Love, War, and Running for President" (1995), written with her husband, noted political commentator James Carville. In their second joint memoir, "Love and War: Twenty Years, Three Presidents, Two Daughters and One Louisiana Home" (2014), Matalin and Carville consider how they and America have changed over two decades. Matalin co-starred in HBO's critically acclaimed series K Street, produced by George Clooney, and is author of "Letters to My Daughters" (2010), frequent co-host of the nationally syndicated radio program "Both Sides Now" and founding editor-in-chief for Threshold Editions, a conservative publishing division of Simon & Schuster.

"Mary Matalin and her husband, James Carville, epitomize the kind of bipartisan relationships that I think we need to be building in our communities," said Jacqueline Kurlowski, director of the Dyer Institute for Leadership and Public Policy.

This event is sponsored by CCU's Edgar Dyer Institute for Leadership and Public Policy, the Thomas W. and Robin W. Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts, and CCU's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

Constitution Day is an annual nationwide celebration to commemorate the signing of the United States Constitution, the document that grants privileges and responsibilities to U.S. citizens both native and naturalized, in September 1787.

For more information, contact Amy Tully at atully@coastal.edu or 843-349-2352; Wheelwright Auditorium is located at 108 Spadoni Park Circle on CCU's Conway campus.