James E. Foy - A Reflection on the Life of a true Auburn Man

James E. Foy, a man synonymous with the spirit of Auburn, is dead.

For previous generations of Auburn students, he was a beloved dean of students, known for his approachability, kindness, and overwhelming love of all things Auburn.

For my generation and the current crop of Auburn students, Foy is a building, one we don't use as much as we used to any more. The Student Center is the "new Foy."

Foy's also a phone number we call when we don't know the answer to weird questions or need driving directions or phone numbers.

We know the name, but we never got to know the man. That's a great pity.

I had the fortune to tag along with Amy Jones when she interviewed him once for The Plainsman. We met him at his home, and he welcomed us in with a big smile and an even bigger "War Eagle."

Amy and I were in love with him from that moment. We were in awe of his command of Auburn lore and history. The man could recite the amount of blood donated in the first campus blood drive he took part in, to the very pint.

He refused to answer Amy's questions directly; each answer was a winding path through Auburn as he knew and loved it. Names we knew from Auburn's history were his friends and colleagues; stories and memories we thought of as defining moments in Auburn's history were just recollections to him, as if they were any other day on the Plains.

Eventually, he had an interesting request: we were asked to sing the fight song with him.

As he sang, you could tell there was a joy and love in heart as he went through the words. It was infectious - infectious love of Auburn. To this date, there's still no known cure.

He treated us like family because we were family - his Auburn family.

That's how Auburn is supposed to be - that's what he wanted us to be.

For him, the Auburn creed was a true creed - a system of beliefs by which he led his life.

He truly believed in the men and women of Auburn, and loved them.

Through his death, we've suffered a great loss, and we should mourn his passing.

We've lost one of the greatest among us, a true Auburn man.

However, I don't think I'd be remiss in saying that he probably wouldn't want us to be sad.

If anything, I think James Foy, the barnstorming, airplane-flying nonagenarian, would want the occasion of his passing to be a celebration of the university and people he loved for most of his life.

Get your hands up for a 'Bodda Getta.'

Sing the fight song.

Recite the creed.

Go outside and shout "War Eagle" at the top of your lungs.

Celebrate Auburn, Auburn family.

Celebrate Auburn and celebrate James E. Foy - the man who was Auburn.