From Student Government to Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania Mike Stack, ’87, grew up in the Somerton neighborhood in Northeast Philadelphia in what he called a “public service household.” His father was a political leader, his mother was a judge, and his grandfather served in Congress under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

While his three brothers and his sister often griped about their family home constantly being a forum for political gatherings, Stack says he gravitated to politics pretty early on.

“When I was an early teenager, I knew I was going to run for public office,” he said. “My siblings would say, ‘Here comes some more committee people into the house,’ and I was like ‘Yeah! Here come some more committee people to the house! I’ve got to see what’s going on. I’ve got to be involved.’ I guess it’s just the way I’m wired.”

For Stack, politics is all about service, a characteristic he says he learned during his time at La Salle, carried throughout his 14-year career as a state senator, and remains devoted to in his current role as Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania.

“The best part of my job is that I get to be in service every day. People always thank me for my service and I always feel like (saying), ‘Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be in service.’”—Mike Stack, ’87

Having attended La Salle College High School, Stack said La Salle University was a natural choice. He enjoyed the Christian Brothers education he received and wanted to continue that through his college years.

He fondly recalled his first time running for student government at La Salle. On the day of the election, his roommates overslept and forgot to vote. He lost by one vote.

But for every loss, there is a win. The next time Stack ran for student government, he won. And he won again in 2001 when he was elected to the State Senate, and again in 2014 when he was elected Lieutenant Governor.

Stack now presides over the 50-member Senate he used to serve on and acts as the chairman of the state’s Board of Pardons and Parole—two responsibilities he called humbling learning experiences that have made him develop even more “respect for the institution of the legislature and democracy in Pennsylvania and America.”

“The best part of my job is that I get to be in service every day. People always thank me for my service and I always feel like (saying), ‘Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be in service.’ And that has a lot to do with my La Salle education.”