Marquette University. I knew I found my home when I arrived on campus in the Fall 1992. I knew I was where I belonged. It would, however, take several years for me to realize the importance of being part of the Marquette family.
In April 2011, my friend, Jim Foley, was abducted in Libya while reporting on the Arab Spring. For the next 44 days, Jim’s friends, including many of us from Marquette, met regularly to figure out a way to get Jim home. We made calls to politicians, had several media hits, and turned over potential leads wherever we could. We also held a number of vigils at Marquette, primarily thanks to the efforts of Emily Wacker Schultz and later, Kim Perez. Anything we needed, they provided. And on May 18, we all breathed a collective sigh of relief when Jim was released.
Jim returned to Marquette to give thanks to the university that never forgot about him. But this all turned out to be short-lived.
After his release from Libya and a handful of months working a desk gig for GlobalPost in Boston, Jim returned to conflict reporting, first to Libya to document the fall of Muammar Qaddafi and then on to Syria to cover the uprising there. And on Thanksgiving Day 2012, the unthinkable happened again – Jim was abducted in Syria.
For the next 19 months, we tried in vain to get Jim back home again. On Aug. 19, 2014, the world watched in horror as images of ISIS beheading Jim circulated. There was sadness and anger. There was a mass at the Church of the Gesu with over 1,000 people from around the world in attendance to mourn Jim. I met our late president, Dr. Michael R. Lovell, on the altar just weeks after he had been named Marquette’s president.
In the weeks following Jim’s murder, there was a concert in Chicago that served as a bandaid that could not cover the wound we felt. A Marquette scholarship and a fellowship were created to honor Jim. The James W. Foley Legacy Foundation was established to help bring Americans home.
Why do I share this? Because of all the things we have done in the 10 years since Jim’s murder, the one thing we have not done is CELEBRATE the life of Jim.
Well, that’s changing. On Saturday, Oct. 12, we are having another concert for Jim at Milwaukee’s Pabst Theater – and this one will be a celebration. We have the BoDeans, a legendary Wisconsin rock band. We have the Predictors, a Marquette alumni band. And we have the Thriftones, a local Milwaukee band. Dr. John and Diane Foley, Jim’s parents, will be in attendance.
People of my generation will fondly recall the BoDeans as part of our college experience. For our current students, this is an opportunity to join together with our extended Marquette family to see what it means to truly be part of something bigger than ourselves.
Tickets for the concert can be purchased online. Use promo code FOLEY2024 to save $20 off first floor and balcony seats. All proceeds support the Foley Foundation, the archiving of Jim’s work in the Raynor Library, and Marquette’s Center for Peacemaking.
Doors open at 6 p.m. on Oct. 12 for Jamming for Jimmy, with music to follow at 7 p.m. All ages are welcome. The Pabst Theater is located at 144 E. Wells St.
