Marc Fogel, a native of Butler, is a 1984 social studies education graduate of IUP, loved and respected by his faculty and by hundreds of IUP alumni all over the world who call him a friend.
After graduating from IUP, Marc devoted his life—36 years—to education. He taught history courses at schools attended by children of US diplomats in Colombia, Venezuela, Oman, and Malaysia. The last nine years before his arrest were spent teaching at the Anglo-American School in Moscow.
Marc’s doctor prescribed medical marijuana for his back, knee, hip, and shoulder pain. When he traveled back to Russia for his tenth year of teaching there, he was arrested on August 14, 2021, at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow for carrying approximately a half ounce of marijuana in his luggage. He has been in Russian custody since August 2021, celebrating holidays and his sixty-second birthday on July 28, 2023, detained in a Russian prison.
WNBA celebrity Brittney Griner was arrested for the same offense six months later. Within three months, she was designated as “wrongfully detained,” which led to her release.
We rejoice with Ms. Griner’s family and friends that she is home.
But why not Marc?
Even though his detention circumstances are exactly the same as Ms. Griner’s, the State Department refuses to act on Marc’s behalf and declare him wrongfully detained, a key step in securing his release.
Congressman Guy Reschenthaler, Senators John Fetterman and Bob Casey, and a number of other legislators have worked tirelessly to get Marc Fogel declared wrongfully detained by the State Department, including inserting the Fogel Report language in the final FY24 Minibus bill. The Senate passed a bill sponsored by Senator Jon Tester demanding Marc’s immediate release. Reporters and student filmmakers have all been champions for his cause.
We join the Fogel family in gratitude for these efforts. The IUP community stands with them and with Marc and his family, especially his mother Malphine Fogel, during his long, heartbreaking, and arduous journey.
I have been, and continue to be, proud to know Malphine Fogel, to work with her, and to support her efforts. We have not, and will not, forget Marc, or stop working to secure his freedom.
State Department, please act now to bring Marc home. Do not leave this valued member of the IUP and American family to celebrate his sixty-third birthday wrongfully detained in a Russian prison.
Michael A. Driscoll
President