Alan J. Borsuk – Page 2 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

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.

Praise for an Exemplar of the Marquette Lawyer—and of a Judge (Seventh Circuit Day, Part 4)

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:November 11, 2025
Post category:Judges & Judicial Process Legal Education Marquette Law School Marquette Law School History Seventh Circuit

Seventh Court Part 4 — Judge Diane Sykes speaks at a Marquette Law School reception in Eckstein Hall’s Zilber Forum on Sept. 25, 2025.

“Bittersweet.” That was the word Judge Diane Sykes used to describe her final days as chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, including the court’s day of hearings and other events at Marquette Law School on September 25, 2025 (aspects of which were described here, here, and here).

“Sweet” was the only aspect of the word on which the 200 or so people at a reception in Eckstein Hall’s Zilber Forum at the end of the day focused. Perhaps there would have been a concluding reception in any event, but Sykes, L’84, is one of the most distinguished graduates of the Law School. She served as a circuit court judge in Milwaukee County, a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and, for 21 years (and counting), a judge of the Seventh Circuit. So the conclusion of her chief judgeship, just a few days later, merited marking, even celebration.

Sykes has kept the Law School close to her heart, taking part in programs and helping students for many years, as recently as August 22, 2025, when she administered the future attorney’s pledge to new first-year students—the Class of 2028. In every role she has had, Sykes has carried herself with intelligence, professionalism, grace, and warmth, which was why the reception honoring her was filled with good feeling.