Marquette Law School – 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?

Collecting Posts on Seventh Circuit Day

Post author:Joseph D. Kearney
Post published:November 20, 2025
Post category:Appellate Advocacy Judges & Judicial Process Legal Education Marquette Law School Marquette Law School History Seventh Circuit

It was a great privilege for Marquette University Law School to host the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Eckstein Hall earlier this semester (September 25, 2025). The following blog posts form a now-complete series seeking to capture some aspects of the day:

Seventh Circuit Day, Part 1: The Cases and Arguments (Nov. 3, 2025) by Joseph D. Kearney
Effective Appellate Advocacy: Advice from the Bench (Nov. 5, 2025) by Melissa Love Koenig
Appellate Judges Give a Window into How They Do Their Work (Nov. 7, 2025) by Alan J. Borsuk
Praise for an Exemplar of the Marquette Lawyer—and of a Judge (Nov. 11, 2025) by Alan J. Borsuk
“Behind the Scenes” of Organizing a Visit by an Appellate Court (Nov. 13, 2025) by Anna Fodor
Seventh Circuit Day at Eckstein Hall “Felt Like This ‘Event’” and Offered Valuable Lessons (Nov. 18, 2025) by Alan J. Borsuk

Sincere thanks to all—the Court and its staff, those at the Law School, and members of the Milwaukee legal community—who contributed to this inspiring educational experience.

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.