About MUS
Community Impact Report
Memphis University School greatly impacts the Memphis community through economic contributions, community service initiatives, and alumni endeavors. Faculty, staff, and students ascribe to the Community Creed, which outlines the school's ideals and virtues that have governed student behavior and attitudes since the inception of the school. This creed lays out the shared duty for MUS students, faculty and staff members, and alumni to preserve the tradition of general excellence by upholding the principles that define and unify our community, such as service, respect, and involvement.

Memphis University School, a traditional, college-preparatory school for boys in grades seven through twelve, has been the school for boys for more than 100 years. Situated on 94 acres in East Memphis, MUS has a current enrollment of approximately 650 students. MUS receives funds from tuition, annual gifts, endowment income, and grants. The operating budget of the school, currently about $13 million, includes salaries, purchases, and contracts for services, all of which have an important economic impact on our community. Additionally, the school contributes to the city of Memphis through service projects, facility usages, and the intellectual capital and philanthropy of our alumni.

Economic Impact

School Payroll
Actual total payroll for fiscal year (FY) 2007-08 was $6,209,000

Auxiliary Services
 For the FY 2007-2008, MUS paid several outside vendors for auxiliary services:
  • Outside Contractors: $1,126,000
  • Security: $102,000
  • Grounds Maintenance/Landscape: $125,000
School Purchases
 Memphis vendors (approx. 200): $2,000,000
Total Tennessee vendors (approx. 300): $1,000,000

Capital Projects Expenditures
MUS spent $500,000 on additions to the physical plant in FY 2007-08. The school has spent $27,000,000 total over the past nine years.

Taxes, Utilities, and Permit Fees
Payroll taxes, property taxes, and other licenses for FY 2007-08: $485,000
Utilities for FY 2007-08: $ 427,000

Community Impact

Student Service

The Civic Service Organization (CSO) at Memphis University School is an organization that encourages all students to participate in a variety of community service projects each school year. The group, led by seven student executives, organizes fundraising efforts for charitable purposes and service projects at various community agencies.

During 2007-08, the students, among other activities:
  • Accepted donations of books for the Memphis Literacy Council.
  • Held its annual Charity Week in the fall. Charity Week is the CSO's kickoff to the school year. Its goal is to encourage participation in the various charitable and service events throughout the year.
  • Collected more than 5,619 cans of food for the Memphis Food Bank.
  • Gave more than 28 units of blood for Lifeblood.
  • Produced the MUS Talent Show. This year's talent show raised $4,800 for a Make-A-Wish child to visit Normandy Beach in France with his parents.
  • Served as bell ringers for the Salvation Army.
  • Organized a book drive and collected 365 books for students in Liberia.
  • Served the Emanuel Christian Center by conducting weekly tutoring sessions.
  • Collected 80 toys and made 45 blankets for Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center, as well as raised $914 for Go Jim Go, the Jim Jaggers bike-a-thon for Le Bonheur.
  • Volunteered for the Lester Community Center Easter Egg Hunt.
  • Sent a quarterly crew to clean up and restore Zion Cemetery, the oldest African-American cemetery in Memphis.
  • Worked with Habitat for Humanity constructing the Tully Street house.
  • Worked with the Hutchison CSO to cook dinner for families staying at the Ronald McDonald House near St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
  • The CSO, in partnership with Hutchison School, Lausanne Collegiate School, and St. Mary's Episcopal School, organized the second-annual Gobble Gala in November 2007. The event, a dance held at MUS, raised $7,000 for the Memphis Food Bank.
CSO projects throughout the years have included, among other activities:
  • Volunteering at Eikon Ministries, First Works, MIFA, and Hands on Memphis during the 2006 Senior Class Service Day
  • Tutoring students at KIPP Academy
  • Assisting at downtown churches' soup kitchens
  • Working with inner-city students through New Hope Christian Academy
  • Participating in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure
Arts Events
  • MUS presents free concerts by its studio music program band and Beg To Differ, its award-winning a cappella group.
  • In April, MUS hosted 'Night of the Arts' that featured work from MUS students. It was open to the public.
  • The school produces three student theatrical productions each year that are open to the public.
Facility Usage by the Community
In addition to its own athletic and performing arts events, Memphis University School hosts other athletic competitions and community groups. We are happy to share our facilities with groups who foster sportsmanship, scholarship, and philanthropy.

Use of Athletic Facilities
  • MUS is the site of the annual Liberty Bowl High School All-Star Game (organized by the Liberty Bowl Association), which recognizes senior football players for their hard work and good citizenship, and provides an opportunity for them to be evaluated by many college coaches. More than 50 Shelby County football teams participate in this yearly event.
  • The school hosts the West Region Jamboree, a preseason series of scrimmages among 14 area high school football teams.
  • In October, MUS was one of several facilities that played host to the Memphis Swing For the Cure, a one-day charity tennis event benefiting The Sharon Reves Foundation. The annual event occurs during Breast Cancer Awareness month and benefits breast cancer research.
  • MUS was the site of the Gibson Lacrosse Camp in January.
  • The Old Spice Rudy Gay/Mike Conley Basketball Camp used the MUS Ross Lynn Arena for its week-long camp in May. The camp features basketball training from area coaches and Memphis Grizzlies players Rudy Gay and Mike Conley. In the past, MUS was the site of the FedEx Shane Battier Youth Basketball Academy.
  • MUS hosted the Mid-South Football Combine for its eleventh year in May. The purpose of the event is to record athletic statistics and videotape more than 300 high school rising juniors and seniors from Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee for their recruiting packages at various colleges.
  • MUS hosts the Memphis Summer Classic basketball tournament, which includes more than 20 varsity basketball teams.
  • MUS hosts the Shelby County High School Swim Coaches' annual meeting and the Shelby County Middle School Swim Coaches' annual meeting.
  • The Dunavant-Wellford Tennis Center at MUS is the site of several tennis leagues, USTA tennis tournaments, and tennis clinics.
  • Presbyterian Day School football games are held at MUS.
  • Second Presbyterian flag football games are held at MUS.
  • Memphis Lacrosse League plays summer games at MUS.
  • MUS hosts lacrosse games for elementary school students, organized by Stickhead Lacrosse.
Use of School Facilities
  • In September 2007, the American Chemical Society used both a science classroom and the dining hall for their monthly meeting and dinner. This meeting featured a chemical demonstration and chemical education by Dr. John Fortman of Wright State University.
  • Teach For America used the Wunderlich Auditorium and 12 Lower School classrooms in February 2008 for all 100 of their corp members to meet and discuss professional development. Teach For America is the national corps of recent college graduates and professionals who commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools.
  • MUS hosts an informal Mathcounts competition in January with approximately seven schools (about 100 students total) participating.
  • Destination ImagiNation met in February and March 2008 and used both the Dunavant Lecture Hall and the Lower School. Destination ImagiNation is a community-based, school-friendly program that builds participants' creativity, problem solving, and teamwork in enjoyable and meaningful ways.
  • In March 2008, the Chickasaw Council of the Boy Scouts of America hosted its Eagle Day Banquet in the dining hall.
  • The University of Tennessee Dental School held its annual White Coat Ceremony in July in Hyde Chapel and a reception in the dining hall.
  • The Mid-South Writers Association meets at MUS several times throughout the year.
  • The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association annually meets on the campus to set sports rules and regulations for the following school year.
  • MUS serves as a voting location for the Shelby County Election Commission.
  • The West Tennessee Historical Society meets several times a year at the school.
  • The DownLine Institute, a training program for men whose goal is to strengthen layman leadership in global church communities, meets monthly at MUS.
  • Pitner Driving School holds driver education classes for local teens on MUS property.
Leadership Program
  • MUS sponsors Summer SLAM, an enrichment and development program for boys entering grades five through eight.

Alumni Impact

MUS alumni have a remarkable effect on the city of Memphis and beyond as participants in business, civic, and philanthropic organizations. With an alumni base that is small relative to its peer schools (3,489 active alumni total, including about 2,248 in the Memphis area), MUS has produced a disproportionately large number of community leaders in Memphis.

The following figures represent the percentage of Memphis-area alumni in each of several professional fields:
  • Banking and finance 21.0%
  • Law 13.7%
  • Healthcare 12.8%
  • Real estate 7.5%
  • Manufacturing and sales 7.0%
Approximately 300 Memphis-area alumni are corporate officers (presidents, vice presidents, CEOs, CFOs, or COOs) of various companies, including Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC, Boyle Investment Company, CB Richard Ellis, Commercial Advisors, LLC, Dunavant Enterprises, Inc., FedEx, First Tennessee Bank, MCDR, Inc., Montgomery Martin Contractors, LLC, Morgan Keegan & Co., Inc., NewSouth Capital Management, and Southeastern Asset Management, Inc.

More than 50 percent of our local alumni have graduate or professional degrees.

Local MUS alumni include civil servants and elected officials: Criminal Court Judge Christopher B. Craft '69, City Council member George S. Flinn III '91, State Representative Brian K. Kelsey '96, and Juvenile Court Referee Dan H. Michael '72.

Memphis Magazine’s list of Who’s Who for 2008 (August 2008) includes George S. Flinn III ’91, Joseph R. “Pitt” Hyde III ’61 (Who’s Who Hall of Fame), Frederick W. Smith ’62 (Who’s Who Hall of Fame), W. Hampton Sides ’80, and Henry M. Turley, Jr. ’59.

Business TN "Power 100: Tennessee's Most Powerful People" (April 2008) included four alumni - Joseph R. 'Pitt' Hyde III '61 (No. 2), Frederick W. Smith '62 (No. 3), G. Staley Cates '82 (No. 76), and William B. Dunavant III '78 (No. 97).

Business TN "150 Best Lawyers" (January 2008) included five MUS alumni -Nathan A. Bicks '74, William H. Fones, Jr. '69, John A. Good '76, R. Hunter Humphreys '70, and Shepherd D. Tate '70.

Business TN "TN250 Tennessee Top Companies" for 2008 (July 2008) are headed by MUS alumni: Adams Keegan, Inc., Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC, Dunavant Enterprises, Inc., Mallory Alexander International Logistics, and Seabrook Wallcoverings, Inc.

Twelve of the Memphis Business Journal "Top 100 Private Companies for 2008" (December 2007) are headed by MUS alumni: Dunavant Enterprises, Inc. (No. 2), Bryce Corporation (No. 13), Adams Keegan, Inc. (No. 14), Mallory Alexander International Logistics (No. 22), Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC (No. 24), Chuck Hutton Chevrolet (No. 25), Montgomery Martin Contractors LLC (No. 49), Fogelman Properties (No. 62), Stein World LLC (No. 66), Boyle Investment Company (No. 68), ALCO Properties (No. 82), and MCDR, Inc. (No. 93).

The (Memphis) Society of Entrepreneurs and Junior Achievement have bestowed several honors on MUS alumni:
  • Of the 11 men who have won the Master Entrepreneur Award, three have been MUS alumni - Joseph R. Hyde III '61, Allen B. Morgan, Jr. '60, and Henry M. Turley, Jr. '59.
  • Two MUS alumni, Joseph R. Hyde III '61 and Allen B. Morgan, Jr. '60, are in the Entrepreneur Hall of Honor.
Hundreds of MUS alumni volunteer thousands of hours annually to religious and civic organizations:
  • About 200 MUS alumni serve on the Boards of Trustees of over 300 different non-profit groups, including the Boy Scouts of America, Bridges, Inc., The Community Foundation of Greater Memphis, The Dixon Gallery and Gardens, The Grant Center, Inc., ArtsMemphis, The Leadership Academy, MPACT Memphis, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis Tomorrow, The Rotary Foundation, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Trezevant Manor Foundation, and Youth Villages.
The Association of Fundraising Professionals (Memphis Chapter) has honored several MUS alumni with its annual Crystal Awards:
  • Of the 11 men who have won the award for Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser, two have been MUS alumni - P. Trowbridge Gillespie, Jr. '65 and Scott P. Ledbetter '60.
  • One MUS alumnus - Joseph R. Hyde III '61 - has been named Outstanding Philanthropist.