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 7-12, 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 660 students. MUS receives funds from tuition, annual gifts, endowment income, and grants. The operating budget of the school, currently about $14.5 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 usage, and the intellectual capital and philanthropy of our alumni.

Economic Impact

School Payroll
The actual total payroll for fiscal year (FY) 2009-10 was $7,759,000.

Auxiliary Services
For FY 2009-2010, MUS paid several outside vendors for auxiliary services:

• Outside Contractors: $366,000
• Security: $100,000
• Grounds Maintenance/Landscape: $125,000

School Purchases
Memphis Contractors: $366,000 (approximately 80)
Total Tennessee Contractors: $695,000 (approximately 130)

Capital Projects Expenditures
MUS spent $352,000 on additions to the physical plant in FY 2009-10. The school has spent $27,704,000 total during the past ten years.

Taxes, Utilities, and Permit Fees
Payroll taxes, property taxes, and other licenses for FY 2009-10: $515,000
Utilities for FY 2009-10: $422,000

Community Impact 

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

During 2009-10, the organization, among other activities:

• Held its annual Charity Week in the fall. Charity Week is the CSO's kickoff to the school year. Its goal is to encourage student participation in various charitable and service events throughout the year.
• Collected more than 4,500 pounds of food for the Mid-South Food Bank.
• Gave more than 36 units of blood for Lifeblood.
• Produced the MUS Talent Show and raised $3,400 for a Make-A-Wish child.
• Served as bell ringers for the Salvation Army, staged an Easter Egg hunt for the children of Eikon Ministries and Lester Community Center, and raised funds for a Binghamton family's Christmas.
• Served the Emanuel Christian Center by conducting weekly tutoring sessions.
• Dedicated hundreds of hours to MIFA Handyman projects, repairing the homes of the elderly.
• Collected cards and letters for servicemen and women overseas.
• Volunteered hundreds of hours of labor collecting school supplies for FirstWorks, serving meals to the elderly or disabled, cleaning lots around Lester Community Center, helping students and teachers at Berclair Elementary School, making blankets for children of Le Bonheur, and serving dessert to families at the Ronald McDonald House of Memphis.
• Raised thousands of dollars for other local charities.

CSO projects throughout the years have included, among other activities:

• Volunteering at Eikon Ministries, FirstWorks, MIFA, and Hands on Memphis.
• Tutoring students at the Emmanuel Christian Center and Berclair Elementary School.
• 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 Band and Beg To Differ®, its award-winning a cappella group, to retirement homes and other community organizations.
• Throughout the year, the Bloodworth Recording Studio assisted emerging bands, not-for-profit groups like Chatterbox Audio Theater, and local community theaters. It also conducted summer recording and engineering camps.
• In April, MUS hosted a virtual "Night of the Arts" on our website that featured work from MUS students.
• The theater program held summer camps and produced three theatrical productions that included local high school girls, musicians, choreographers, and costumers. These productions were open to the public. In addition to these events, the theater provided technical support for events throughout the year that were hosted in the Hyde Chapel and Wunderlich Auditorium.

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 was 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 hosted the West Region Jamboree, a preseason series of scrimmages among 14 area high school basketball teams.
• The East Shelby Church Recreation Association used Stokes Stadium for flag football games.
• MUS hosted the Mid-South Football Combine for its 13th year. The event records athletic statistics and videotapes more than 300 rising juniors and seniors from Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee high schools for their recruiting packages at various colleges.
• The Memphis Grizzlies held an open practice and autograph session in the Ross Lynn Arena.
• MUS hosted the Bridges Kickoff Classic.
• MUS hosted the Memphis Summer Classic basketball tournament, which includes more than 20 varsity basketball teams.
• MUS hosted 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.
• The Saber Fencing State Championship was held in the Sue Hyde Sports Center.
• Presbyterian Day School held football games at MUS.
• Memphis Lacrosse League plays summer games at Hull-Dobbs Field.
• MUS hosted lacrosse games for elementary school students.

Use of School Facilities

• The Chickasaw Council Eagle Scout Award Banquet was held on campus and recognized all Boy Scouts in the Memphis area earning Eagle Rank.
• The American Chemical Society used both a science classroom and the Dining Hall for their monthly meeting and dinner.
• Memphis Bioworks held a lecture series in the Wunderlich Auditorium.
• An annual Creative Aging event and monthly Why Shakespeare Today events were hosted on campus.
• MUS hosted an informal MATHCOUNTS practice competition for approximately seven schools (about 100 students total) to prepare for regional and state MATHCOUNTS tournaments.
• Memphis Scholastic Chess used the Dining Hall for the City High School Championship competition in January. More than 100 chess players from multiple schools in Memphis competed.
• Destination ImagiNation met in January in the Hull Lower School. Destination ImagiNation is a community-based, school-friendly program that strengthens participants' creativity, problem solving skills, and cooperative spirit.
• The Down Syndrome Association of Memphis met in the Lower School and Dining Hall in April.
• 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 met at MUS several times throughout the year.
• The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association held meetings on the campus to set sports rules and regulations for several sports.
• MUS served as a voting location for the Shelby County Election Commission.
• The West Tennessee Historical Society met several times a year at the school.
• Downline Ministries met monthly at MUS.
• Pitner Driving School held driver education classes for local teens on MUS property.
• The Watauga Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution met on the campus in January.

Leadership Program

• Every summer, MUS sponsors a leadership program called Summer SLAM. This program is an enrichment and development program for community 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 (3,700 active alumni total, including about 2,342 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      13.2%
• Law      6.9%
• Healthcare      6.2%
• Real estate      4.7%
• Manufacturing and sales      6.1%

Approximately 261 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.; New South Capital Management; and Southeastern Asset Management, Inc.

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

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

Memphis Magazine's list of Who's Who for 2009 (August 2009) included Joseph R. "Pitt" Hyde '61 (Who's Who Hall of Fame), Frederick W. Smith '62 (Who's Who Hall of Fame), and Henry M. Turley, Jr. '59.

Business TN's "Power 100: Tennessee's Most Powerful People" (April 2009) included four alumni – Joseph R. "Pitt" Hyde '61 (No. 1), Frederick W. Smith '62 (No. 2), G. Staley Cates '82 (No. 69), and William B. Dunavant III '78 (No. 96).

Business TN's "150 Best Lawyers" (January 2010) list included six MUS alumni – Robert Sullivan '68, William H. Fones '69, R. Hunter Humphreys, Sr. '70, Shepherd D. Tate '70, and John A. Good '76.

Business TN's "2009 Commercial Real Estate 101" list included four MUS alumni – Russell E. Bloodworth, Jr. '63, Richard Fogelman '84, Robert E. Loeb '73, and Henry M. Turley, Jr. '59.

Six of Business TN's "Top 200 Private Companies in Tennessee" for 2009 (July 2009) are headed by MUS alumni: Adams Keegan, Inc.; Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC; Dunavant Enterprises, Inc.; Mallory Alexander International Logistics; Montgomery Martin Contractors, LLC; and Seabrook Wallcoverings, Inc.

Twenty-two of the Memphis Business Journal's Top 100 Private Companies for 2010 (June 2010) have MUS alumni in senior management positions: Allenberg Cotton Co. (No. 3); Perkins and Marie Callender's, Inc. (No. 8); Adams Keegan, Inc. (No. 11); Kemmons Wilson Cos. (No. 12); Bryce Corp. (No. 15); Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC (No. 21*); Mallory Alexander International Logistics (No. 21*); Jim Keras Automotive Group (No. 35); Carlisle Corp. (No. 41); Ozark Motor Lines (No. 43); Wolfchase Nissan (No. 48); Chuck Hutton Automotive Group (No. 51); Malco Theaters, Inc. (No. 60); Fogelman Properties (No. 61); Montgomery Martin Contractors, LLC (No. 70); Lexus of Memphis (No. 74); Wunderlich Securities, Inc. (No. 77); Heavy Machines, Inc. (No. 79); ALCO Properties (No. 82); Boyle Investment Company (No. 86); Ideal Chemical & Supply (No. 90); and Grinder, Taber and Grinder (No. 96).
*indicates a tie

Three of the Memphis Business Journal's Fastest Growing Companies for 2010 have MUS alumni as the top local officer: Wunderlich Securities, Inc. (No. 6), Gary K. Wunderlich Jr. '88, CEO; Adams Keegan, Inc. (No 13), James F. Keegan, Jr. '88, President/CEO; Boyle Investment Company (No. 20), Henry W. Morgan '61, President.

One of the Memphis Business Journal's Top Forty Under 40 award recipients for 2009 is an MUS alumnus – O. John Norris III '87.

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. "Pitt" Hyde '61, Allen B. Morgan, Jr. '60, and Henry M. Turley, Jr. '59.
• Two MUS alumni, Joseph R. "Pitt" Hyde '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 alumni serve on the boards of trustees of more than 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 are alumni – P. Trowbridge Gillespie, Jr. '65 and Scott P. Ledbetter '60.
• One alumnus – Joseph R. "Pitt" Hyde III '61 – has been named Outstanding Philanthropist.