Students and faculty at OU came together Tuesday night in honor of the Carl Albert Center and its 14th Julian J. Rothbaum Distinguished Lecture in Representative Government.

Jack N. Rakove, the W.R. Coe Professor of History and American Studies at Stanford University and Pulitzer Prize winner in history, was honored dinner where he answered questions about his three-part lecture on “James Madison: A Politician Thinking.”

The lecture series, sponsored by the Carl Albert Center, began Tuesday and will continue until Thursday.

Matthew Gress, political science and history senior, said he listened to some of Rakove’s lectures online and he said he found him to be very knowledgeable.

Gress said he thinks the lecturer speaking about James Madison is very important if Americans are to understand who they really are today.

“We have to understand the roots of American society,” Gress said.

Gress said, at the very least, Rakove would explain Madison’s contributions to the republican ideology during the making of the new republic.

“Just getting to know more behind the man, James Madison, is going to be fascinating,” Gress said.

Rakove answered questions from the audience about his lecture that day, focused on the concepts of religion in the constitution, the right to privacy in the constitution and how political leaders thought about issues then in comparison to the way the government addresses issues today.

Cindy Rosenthal, director of the Carl Albert Center, said this is an opportunity for students to hear from great political thinkers around the country.

“We try to find some of the premiere political scientists to speak on campus,” Rosenthal said.

Jackie Slater, staff assistant for the OU Western History Collections, said she came to this event two years ago when she was a student at OU.

“I think it’s a good opportunity for people to hear a different viewpoint,” Slater said.

Joel Jankowsky, son of Julian Rothbaum, said celebrating the Carl Albert Center and what it’s doing is very special to him, particularly because he was at its founding.

“Dad [Julian Rothbaum] would have been 96 this year and as I think about it, this is our 14th lecture series,” Joel Jankowsky, a speaker at this event said.

Rothbaum was a successful businessman, leader in Oklahoma civic affairs, an important supporter of the OUand a lifelong friend of Speaker Carl Albert, according to the event’s program.

“What I want you to come away with is how much Dad really loved this university,” Jankowsky said. “He valued it highly. He didn’t want his name on buildings, but he wanted to support people, he wanted to support all of you and this university.”

The Rothbaum family contributed to the Carl Albert Center at OU.

The Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center is a nonpartisan institution devoted to teaching and research related to the United States Congress and strengthening representative democracy through engaged and informed citizens, according to the event’s program.

Listen in on the second and third lectures in a series by Jack N. Rakove in the James Madison: A Politican Thinking series.

Wednesday: The Principal Task of Modern Legislation

Thursday: Wherever the Real Power Lies

All lectures will be given at 3:30 p.m. in the Mary Eddy and Fred Jones Auditorium at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art.