Speakers at Marquette – Page 94 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

LA Students Drive Home the Message of Success in Education at Law School Conference

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:November 12, 2010
Post category:Milwaukee Public Schools Speakers at Marquette

The speech by Raj Vinnakota and the panel discussion from this conference can be viewed by clicking here.

Raj Vinnakota and Rafe Esquith have some real differences in how they approach educating children who come from backgrounds that are connected with low success rates in education. Each has taken decidedly different paths to becoming a nationally prominent figure in pushing for greater success for such children. Vinnakota is involved in national reform efforts. Esquith is a teacher whose message focuses on the great things that can happen between teachers and students.

But the two certainly share one major belief: It can be done. Children growing up amid poverty or in homes where the circumstances are not conducive to success in school can become big successes. Teachers and schools can lead them there. And it can happen a lot more frequently than it has been happening across the nation.

If there was a key take-away from “High Success with High-Need Kids,” a conference Tuesday at Marquette Law School’s Eckstein Hall, it was that Vinnakota and Esquith, as well as four leaders in Milwaukee education, differed on styles of education, attitudes toward testing or teacher unions, and a variety other issues. But they each had a charge to the 230 people who attended:

“A Good Start” on Building Joe Zilber’s Neighborhood Improvement Legacy

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:November 12, 2010
Post category:Milwaukee Speakers at Marquette

“I think Joe’s looking down, saying, ‘Well, it’s a good start.’”

That’s how Susan Lloyd, the executive director of the Zilber Family Foundation, described the progress being made in carrying out a $50 million commitment to revitalizing specific Milwaukee neighborhoods made by the late philanthropist, Joseph Zilber.

At an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” session at Marquette Law School on Thursday, Lloyd described the work of the Zilber Neighborhood Initiative, launched in 2008. The initiative is focused on two neighborhoods, Lindsay Heights on the north side and the Clarke Square on the south side.

Zilber, a real estate developer who died in March 2010, saw opportunity everywhere he went, Lloyd said, and was eager to see new vitality in places such as Lindsay Heights, where his childhood home was.

But achieving that, especially in trying economic times, is not a short-term matter.

Aharon Barak: A Judicial Approach Shaped by the Worst and Best in People

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:November 3, 2010
Post category:Judges & Judicial Process Speakers at Marquette

Aharon Barak is known internationally for his role in strengthening individual rights and the civil courts in Israel. The accomplishments and prestige of the retired chief judge of the Israeli Supreme Court are what made him a good choice for presenting this year’s Hallows Lecture at Marquette Law School.

But beyond the Hallows lecture on judicial philosophy Monday and beyond what Barak said to several classes and at meetings with faculty members and beyond his remarks Sunday night at a dinner attended by leaders of Milwaukee’s Jewish community, there lies a personal side to what it motivates Barak as a judge. It came out in spontaneous remarks at a private dinner Monday night after the Hallows lecture.