Marquette’s College of Professional Studies is based on the pillars of ethical leadership, civic engagement and social responsibility.
A panel of four alumnae discussed how these core values shaped and continue to influence their work at the “Women Leaders Touching the Lives of Milwaukee’s Underserved” discussion Monday evening in the Alumni Memorial Union.
Eva Soeka, associate law professor, moderated the event. Soeka asked each panelist how she arrived at Marquette.
Paulina de Haan grew up in a violent neighborhood on Milwaukee’s Near South Side. She decided to pursue a master’s degree in Public Service at Marquette, hoping to help break the cycle of poverty she witnessed firsthand.
Haan is now the community coordinator of the Milwaukee Safe Streets Initiative for Marquette University Law School. Through this program, Haan works with the Milwaukee Police Department and at-risk youth to tackle issues of violence and crime.
When an individual watches as family members are arrested, join gangs and sell drugs, it creates a stubborn, negative mentality, she said.
“Every time I meet with a defendant, it’s the same story,” she said.
Tracy Johnson is the executive director of TEMPO Milawukee, an organization that unifies and empowers professional women in the city.
“I’m a serial volunteer,” she said, “I was always interested in having service as part of my job.”
After completing a bachelor’s degree in public relations and an MBA at Marquette, Johnson participated in the Future Milwaukee Leadership program at Marquette, which has a nine-month curriculum designed to develop and motivate ethical leaders for the city, according to the program’s Web site.
“It was one of the most valuable things I ever did,” Johnson said.
Katie Cox, who received a master’s degree in public service from Marquette, works toward improving literacy rates as the Urban Literacy special projects coordinator at Cardinal Stritch University. She said Milwaukee has an illiteracy rate of 25 percent.
The city’s cycle of poverty will never be broken, she said, if the disparity between black and white educational opportunities continues.
Cox helps operate three literacy centers in the inner city and works with Milwaukee Public School teachers to hone their skills.
Stephanie Stein, director of the Milwaukee County Department on Aging, said many of the elderly individuals she works with see America’s current economic downturn as minor compared to the Great Depression and wars they survived. An attitude of perseverance is required to accomplish difficult tasks in Milwaukee, she said.
“Will we ever have a train? Will we ever have stores on Wisconsin Avenue?” she asked. “Rather than finding solutions, we tend to focus on how bad thing are.”
The panel discussion was the College of Professional Studies signature event for the year and was held in coordination with the Centennial Celebration of Women at Marquette, said Cindy Lorentzen, the university’s marketing director.
Lorentzen has been working in the college for three years and is also enrolled in the graduate program in leadership studies.
“I thought it was important to fully understand the college’s programs,” she said. “I have a strong interest in leadership both personally and professionally.”
