While every experience is different, there are some universal truths when it comes to college. The food’s always expensive, you learn to crave privacy after having a roommate, and term papers are either an easy “A” or the bane of your existence depending on whether you enjoy writing or not.
For Gregory Watson, the last statement would be found surprisingly false.
A student in 1982 attending the University of Texas, Watson wrote a term paper on the topic of the back-then unratified 27th amendment.
This amendment stated that “No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.”
What this basically means is that a congressman cannot vote themselves a raise and have it take effect immediately, but would have to wait until the next election cycle. This in turn would give them an incentive to be less corrupt, since if they act in any way that makes people think they don’t deserve the raise, they can be voted out.
The amendment was first proposed in 1787 but was left unratified due to lack of support, as only six states backed it.
195 years down the road, Watson found the amendment while looking for a topic for his paper in the Austin public Library. According to an article in the Post-Gazette, the amendment caught Watson’s attention, and upon finding that it was still in play realized it could still be passed. In the same article, Watson confessed that the teacher gave him a C on the paper, due to it not convincing her the amendment could pass.
Later in an interview for Unlock Congress, Watson agreed this just made him more determined “I knew that the amendment was technically still pending before the state legislatures, and I also knew that Congress was still abusing its privilege to establish its own rate of pay. And so when I got the C on my paper from the professor, I decided that I was going to prove her wrong.”
He did this by going on to contact state legislators, trying to convince them the amendment should be ratified. In the same interview Watson explained “I knew that all I had to do was show this to the state legislatures and convince them that it had no deadline. And therefore, because it had no deadline, it was technically still pending business. And they could still take it up — even though it was 192 or 193 years later. And sure enough, that’s what happened. The very next year I was able to get Maine to approve it. And once I got a state to approve it, the momentum took off. The year after that, 1984, I got Colorado to pass it. It really took off in 1985; five states passed it. I knew it was just a simple matter of clearly presenting this issue to the state legislatures, and that they would act appropriately. And they did.”
By 1992, Alabama, Missouri, and Michigan were the last states to ratify the amendment, finally making it a reality a decade after he was given a “C” on that term paper.
While he’s come a long way from that sophomore in 1982, Watson’s passion for politics hasn’t died down. He is still involved as a Legislative Policy Analyst and in his interview with Unlock Congress, encourages others to take an interest in Politics.
“If the public does not constantly monitor and communicate with their elected officials, guess what? Their elected officials are going to play, and they’re going to engage in sleazy behavior… and the only way to keep them honest is by constantly monitoring them and constantly communicating with them.”
While this story of sophomore-assignment-turned-legislation seems borderline incredible, it goes to show that changes can and have been made to our Constitution, a document most people believe should remain untouched.
It also sets an example for those with a cause or those fighting an unjust law. If this one man was able to bring about a change to the Constitution, a lot more so can be done by those who have the support of a group of people. All you have to do is be willing to fight for that change, even if it takes a decade.