Republican Senator, Mike Brubaker spoke at the M&M Mars Lecture Series on Friday, Feb. 22 at 11 a.m. in the Hoover Center for Business.
Brubaker did not write a formal speech or prepare a presentation, but instead he chose for students to ask him questions on any topic of interest they wanted to discuss. Students asked a wide variety of questions with topics including the privatization of the State Lottery, alcohol sales in Pennsylvania and gun control. Previous associate professor of business Richard Stone said, “Senator Brubaker answered well and demonstrated his excellent style of researching a topic using public input and taking clear stands on the issues.”
Gun control was another tough topic brought up. Brubaker said he strongly believes in following what the Pennsylvania constitution states. However, he also said, “But of course I am very concerned with the misuse of firearms.”
Brubaker attended college at West Virginia University, receiving his bachelor’s degree in agronomy.
Agronomy is the science and technology of using and producing plants for food, fuel, fiber and reclamation.
Before becoming involved in politics, he was the CEO of three private companies. He learned that there was a township supervisor position that had become open and the job description appealed to him. He acted as the supervisor for 10 years while continuing his CEO position. After those 10 years, he discovered that the former Republican state senator of Pennsylvania was retiring. Brubaker stated that his wife, Claire’s, and his three kids’ opinions mean a lot to him. Due to this, he asked his family if they would support his decision if he were to apply for the position. Brubaker’s family offered the utmost support so he ran, subsequently won and earned the position of the senator of District 36. He is currently on his second term serving and is still undecided if he will run again for a third term.
“Senator Brubaker seemed like a really down-to-earth guy. He cared about his family, which I thought was very respectable and he seemed to sincerely care about all the students and wanted to get to know them,” said junior Brooke Morgan, a student who attended the lecture. She was not the only one to think this. Stone said, “I witnessed a student after his lecture asking him how to get an internship in the State Legislature and then possibly running for public office. Needless to say, the student was motivated by the Senator.” Stone agreed with students as well, as he benefited greatly by listening to Brubaker speak. He said, “The students and I benefited from listening to him in that we saw an excellent example of how a politician can serve his or her constituents and the general public by assisting in meeting their needs and taking clear positions on controversial issues. His talk was better than a lecture by a professor in theory by demonstrating the practice of effective public service.”
The only question left to answer is: Why did Brubaker come to Etown of all places? Stone said, “I believe he came to Elizabethtown and the College because we will be in his District when redistricting takes place. He wants to meet and serve his new constituents as they are added to his District.” Redistricting is when new boundaries are drawn in order to keep and maintain an equal representation on the basis of population.
For students interested in attending future M&M Mars Lectures, the next one will take place in Hoover 212 on Friday, March 1, at 11:00 a.m. The president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry will speak on “Why Free Enterprise Works” at the lecture.