but grew to crave the electrifying, and frenetic, feel of campaign work.
Jeanne Reidy, Comm ’10, has no time for second
guessing in this Second City position.
Chicago insider
“I found the environment so exciting,” she
says. “I would go to the campaign office after work and help out whenever I could.”
Few people have the minute-
by-minute schedule of the
landed a job. Reidy was hired full time with the rest
Her commitment earned more than praise. It
mayor of one of the country’s biggest cities at
of the mayor’s transition team and has been part
their fingertips. But as executive assistant to
of the city’s most powerful political office since.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Reidy does.
“As you might imagine, there’s definitely not
She knows where Emanuel is every hour of
a 9-to-5 element in this job,” she says. “But I don’t
every day. And he could be a lot of places — speak-
say this lightly: Where the mayor is coming from
ing at a morning breakfast and press briefing,
— it’s 100 percent passion. No matter how long
meeting with city leaders over lunch, representing
my day is, his day is longer.”
Chicagoans’ interests at an evening reception.
days and nights.
Reidy joined the campaign to elect Emanuel
Reidy says Marquette prepared her for tough
in January 2011, working as a part-time volunteer.
She was interning for a PR firm during the day
to be organized and plan ahead,” she says. “As
“There were clear expectations. I learned how
a result, I am confident in what I’m doing and stand by my decisions.” — Becky Dubin Jenkins
class notes
30
Summer 2012