Alan J. Borsuk – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Behind Their Public Duties: Two City Officials Tell Compelling Personal Stories at Lubar Center Programs

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:December 1, 2025
Post category:Lubar Center Milwaukee Speakers at Marquette

Sometimes, the personal stories of public officials can be self-serving and just plain not interesting. But sometimes they can be insightful and compelling, saying important things about the individuals, the work they do, and life more broadly.

Two recent “Get to Know” programs at Marquette Law School, hosted by Derek Mosley, director of the Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education, were definitely in the latter category. Each spotlighted a person who holds an important job. But the biography of each – and their life stories are very different — says a lot about the character of Milwaukee and the challenges the city faces.

Aaron Lipski, chief of the Milwaukee Fire Department, spoke with Mosley on Oct. 9, 2025. He has been in the news often in recent times, including for his strong advocacy of putting sprinklers in older apartment buildings in the light of fatal fires and for his call for the Milwaukee city budget to sharply increase spending on new trucks and equipment for the fire department.

In Law School Program, Maya Smart Offers Practical Tips on Getting Kids on the Path to Literacy

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:November 25, 2025
Post category:Marquette Law School

This piece ran in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on November 23, 2025

Here’s an important tip from Maya Smart on how parents can help their children get ready to succeed in school and in life:

When her daughter was young and Smart was looking to enroll her in an early childhood program, Smart paid close attention to what she saw. What did she see going on? Was the place clean? Did it look safe?

Now, Smart says, she knows parents should not only look, but listen. Are the people running the center talking with the children, including babies? Are they doing things that build a child’s intellect and awareness of the world around them, as well as vocabulary? Are the adults responding to the cooing and babbling of kids who are not old enough to talk, but who are definitely old enough to learn and to develop their brains power?

Seventh Circuit Day at Eckstein Hall “Felt Like This ‘Event’” and Offered Valuable Lessons (Part 6)

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:November 18, 2025
Post category:Appellate Advocacy Judges & Judicial Process Legal Education Marquette Law School Marquette Law School History Seventh Circuit

Seventh Circuit 6 — Marquette law students at a question-and-answer session with Seventh Circuit judges, in Eckstein Hall’s Lubar Center, on September 25, 2025.

Did people walk a little taller at Marquette Law School on September 25, 2025? Was there more electricity in the air? Was there an almost tangible sense that something important was taking place? None of this was quantifiable, but it certainly seemed true during what became known within Eckstein Hall as Seventh Circuit Day.

“It felt like this event,” said Mariana Calvo Argus, a second-year student originally from El Paso, Texas. This sixth and final blog post in the Seventh Circuit Day series seeks to capture a bit of the feeling.

Kaya Dreger, a first-year student originally from Idaho, said, “I was super-excited.” The court’s visit furthered her interest in career paths involving advocacy in court. Observing arguments before three federal appellate judges underscored for Dreger how cases involve “real, tangible people” and how an aspect of the U.S. Constitution comes alive in proceedings such as these.

It was a very full day for four judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and for the Marquette Law School community as a whole. In the morning, the Law School’s Lubar Center was the setting for oral arguments in six cases before then-Chief Judge Diane S. Sykes, L’84, and Judges Frank H. Easterbrook and Michael B. Brennan. Judge Michael Y. Scudder joined his colleagues for programs for afternoon programs (see Part 1). The day came as Sykes was within days of finishing her term as chief judge and moving to senior status and as Brennan, another Milwaukeean, prepared to become chief judge of the Chicago-based circuit encompassing Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana.