Marquette University Law School launches Lubar Center for public policy and civic education

Marquette University Law School launched the Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education Tuesday with a conference that focused on its new Milwaukee Area Project.

The center is supported by a gift of $7 million from Milwaukee philanthropists Sheldon and Marianne Lubar.

Michael R. Lovell, Marquette University president, said the center will work to "bring people together to talk about our similarities and our differences."

'With your gift, we're going to be a thought leader for this country for decades to come," Lovell told the Lubars.

Sheldon Lubar said he and his wife "are very thrilled to be associated with Marquette University."

Lubar said the importance of knowledge provides "a pathway to a better life and looking at a bigger picture, and a pathway to a freer nation."

"Intellect is the real wealth of a nation," he said, adding that nothing is more valuable "to each of us than our freedom."

The Milwaukee project is designed to drill down on issues affecting the region to provide an outline of "what we think, how we live and where we're headed."

The region is defined as Milwaukee, Waukesha, Washington, Ozaukee and Racine counties.

"We expect it to be a multidisciplinary project," said Joseph D. Kearney, dean of Marquette University Law School.

In a keynote address, former Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak told the audience, "The civic infrastructure, the common ground in this country, is threatened and what is happening in this room is hugely important."

He said the center can help forge a neutral ground, bringing people together around a common set of facts.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Waukesha County Executive Paul Farrow also addressed the audience.

Barrett focused on the financial problems facing the city as it puts together a 2018 budget. He again made the case for getting state approval to allow the city to move forward with a referendum for a half-cent local sales tax to fund public safety.

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Barrett heralded downtown development, acknowledged more needed to be done in local neighborhoods and declared: "My message to you is Milwaukee is fighting back."

Farrow discussed changes that will come over the next decade, including the use of autonomous vehicles and the increased interconnection of computer devices that will have great impact on work.

Farrow said the region will be a destination for people and businesses and lauded the deal to lure Foxconn to Racine County.

"Instead of a brain drain, we're going to see a brain gain," he said.

Farrow said government will also change.

"We have more and more consolidation and conversations about how we get our government footprint to be smaller," he said, adding the goal wasn't to reduce services but to make sure those services had greater impact on the community.