Marquette and the Community

Marquette University is a coeducational institution founded by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1881. Continuing the Jesuits' commitment to offering a liberal education in a Roman Catholic tradition, the University today has an enrollment of about 12,000 students in twelve schools, colleges, and major programs.

The Graduate School is a major component of the University, representing 2,100 students enrolled in master’s degree programs in thirty different departments and schools and doctoral programs in eleven departments.

The Theology Department functions within the academic, ecclesial, and urban communities to investigate and understand the Catholic tradition, its relation to other Christian communions, to other religions of the world, and to issues of justice and peace within those diverse communities. As a community of scholars, the Theology Department introduces students to the research methods and to the content of the Christian traditions in a way that serves the needs of the various communities to which professors and students belong.

Like many major central-city universities, Marquette has recently made some major new initiatives to respond to problems that exist in cities today. Currently Marquette University is becoming engaged as an institution and as a community of scholars and students in the struggle for justice, employment, fair-housing, education, health for the poor and disadvantaged in the neighborhood immediately surrounding the University and in the central city in general. The Marquette Plan, which was featured in the New York Times (Wednesday, August 21, 1991), is a new initiative to bring government and the University together to provide workable solutions to central-city problems. The Campus Circle project, too, is an attempt by Marquette and other major institutions in the Marquette neighborhood to unite their resources to make justice and peace possible within the central city. These two new initiatives provide a national example of how central-city universities might cooperate and contribute to the betterment of the neighborhoods in which they live and work. As an institution and as a community of scholars and students, Marquette takes seriously its Christian, Catholic, and Jesuit responsibility to the public life of the community.

As an urban institution, Marquette is also a significant part of the cultural, ethnic, and religious diversity that characterizes Milwaukee. Students and faculty have ample opportunity to take advantage of the city’s many cultural and recreational opportunities.

The lakefront, annually, is the scene for numerous ethnic celebrations as well as the Summerfest music festival. The city’s restaurants also reflect the area’s cultural diversity with a variety of fine cuisine’s. The Milwaukee Public Museum houses one of the best collections of pre-Columbian American Indian art in the country. Milwaukee County supports a large park system, including extensive frontage on lake Michigan, and the Milwaukee County Zoo, one of the best such institutions in the United States. The War Memorial Center, located on the lakefront, is home to the large and increasingly distinguished art collection of the Milwaukee Art Museum. The Milwaukee Symphony is internationally acclaimed and the Florentine Opera, the Milwaukee Ballet Company, and Repertory Theater offer citizens additional cultural opportunities. The city also hosts the Milwaukee Brewers (American League Baseball), the Milwaukee Bucks (National Basketball Association), the Milwaukee Admirals (hockey), the Milwaukee Wave (soccer) and, for several games each season, the Green Bay packers (National Football League).