Joe Cervantez, a graduate student in law from Carterville, speaks Monday during “What does the first Amendment Protect,” an event put on by the SIU School of Law for Constitution Day. Cervantez’s speech, “Tell it to the Marines: A Discussion on Whether Presence of Religious Symbols on Military Installations Violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment,” was inspired by his personal experience as a Marine. Cervantez said he has been to Camp Pendleton Crosses in California where many military service people commemorate fellow soldiers who died in battle. Cervantez said a couple of groups want the cross to come down. “It’s our human nature to want to say goodbye and come to terms with what happened,” he said. “When I heard that they wanted to take that down, I looked for a way that was constitutional for the cross to stay up.” Nicole Hester-Daily Egyptian

Photo taken by Nicole Hester of the Daily Egyptian