A non-profit day school, MUS receives funds from tuition, annual gifts, endowment income, and grants. The operating budget of the school, currently about $12 million, includes salaries, purchases, and contracts for services. These expenditures 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

Total budgeted payroll for fiscal year (FY) 2006-07 was $5,684,321.

Auxiliary Services Salary

For the 2006-07 fiscal year, MUS paid several outside vendors for auxiliary services:

• Outside Contractors: $193,307
• Security $107,874
• Grounds Maintenance/ Landscape $121,027

School Purchases

Memphis vendors (approx. 200): $2,000,000
Total Tennessee vendors (approx. 300): $6,000,000

Capital Projects Expenditures

MUS spent $400,000 on additions to the physical plant in FY 2006-07. The school has spent $26,594,000 total over the past eight years.

Taxes, Utilities, and Permit Fees

Payroll taxes, property taxes, and other licenses for FY 2006-07: $440,864
Utilities for FY 2006-07: $392,655

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 fund-raising efforts for charitable purposes and service projects at various community agencies.

During 2006-07, the club, among other activities:

• Accepted donations of books for the Memphis Literacy Council.
• Collected over 3,700 cans of food for the Memphis Food Bank.
• Gave over 30 units of blood for LifeBlood.
• Produced its largest fund-raiser of the year, the MUS Talent Show. This year’s talent show raised $5,000 to buy a computer for a Make A Wish child.
• Raised $3,000 during its annual Charity Week, to be distributed among a number of non-profit organizations.
• Volunteered at the Memphis Food Bank.
• Tutored, cleaned, and helped organize large special events at Lester Community Center, which serves the residents of the Binghamton neighborhood.
• Served the Emanuel Christian Center by tutoring, conducting a toy drive, and supervising children for a day at the Children’s Museum of Memphis.
• Participating in projects (including an overnight event) led by Service Over Self (SOS), an organization that provides home repairs to needy individuals.
• Sent a monthly crew to clean up and restore Zion Cemetery, the oldest African-American cemetery in Memphis.
• Cleaned up and built birdhouses to adorn the Memphis Humane Society.

The CSO, in partnership with St. Mary’s Episcopal School and Hutchison School, organized the second-annual Gobble Gala in November 2006. The event, a dance held at MUS, raised $6,700 for the Memphis Food Bank.

In February 2007, a group of MUS seniors traveled to the Gulf Coast to participate in Hurricane Katrina cleanup. Immediately following the natural disaster, MUS students had raised approximately $8,000 to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina in September 2005.

CSO projects over 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 and the Emanuel Christian Center.
• Assisting at downtown churches’ soup kitchens.
• Working with inner-city students through New Hope Christian Academy.
• Sponsoring an annual canned food drive.
• Building houses for Habitat for Humanity.
• Arranging an annual blood drive.
• 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.
• The school produces student theatrical productions that are open to the public.

School Service

• In May 2007, the Athletics Department donated football equipment to Booker T. Washington High School through Streets Ministry.
  

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

• The FedEx Rudy Gay Youth Basketball Camp uses the MUS Ross Lynn Arena for its week-long camp. One hundred and fifteen participants in grades 2 through 12 receive basketball training from area coaches and Memphis Grizzlies player Rudy Gay. MUS was previously the site of the FedEx Shane Battier Youth Basketball Academy.
• 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. Fifty-five Shelby County football teams participate in this yearly event.
• MUS has hosted the Mid-South High School Football Combine at its playing fields for ten years. The purpose of the event is to record athletic statistics and videotape more than 300 high school players from Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee for their recruiting packages at various colleges.
• MUS hosts the Memphis Summer Classic basketball tournament, which includes 23 varsity basketball teams.
• The school hosts the West Region Jamboree, a preseason series of scrimmages among 14 area high school basketball teams.
• MUS hosts the Shelby County High School Swim Coaches’ annual meeting; in 2006 the Shelby County Middle School Swim Coaches met for the first time at MUS as well.
• In February 2007, Rhodes College hosted four first-round games of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament at MUS
• In 2006, MUS was the site of the Super Regional basketball tournament for the Amateur Athletic Association. Fifty teams of girls aged 10-14 came from six states to participate in the tournament.
• 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.
• MUS hosts lacrosse games for elementary school students, organized by Stickhead Lacrosse.
• In 2002, MUS hosted the Maccabi Youth Games, an athletic event for young Jewish competitors from across the country.
  

Use of School Facilities

• In November 2006, MUS co-hosted (with Hutchison School) the biannual Tennessee Association of Independent Schools, a statewide consortium of more than 55 schools.
• In April 2007, MUS was host to a JER (Jobs, Enrichment, Recreation) planning meeting, organized by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to provide more urban children with summer opportunities.
• The Operation Take Back Coalition held an organizational meeting at MUS in April 2007. The coalition of eight non-profit groups coordinates services for at-risk youth and provides opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals to return to society in a productive ways.
• In March 2007, the Chickasaw Council of the Boy Scouts of America hosted its Eagle Scout Banquet in the MUS Campus Center.
• In July 2007, the Memphis chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals held its monthly meeting at MUS.
• The Anti-Predatory Lending Coalition meets at MUS. This is a consortium of groups (including the NAACP, the Attorney General’s office, and faith-based organizations) who are working on a comprehensive strategy to promote fair lending strategies in the Memphis area.
• The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association annually meets on the MUS 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 Junior League of Memphis meets annually at MUS.
• MUS is the site of The DownLine Institute, a training program for men whose goal is to strengthen layman leadership in global church communities.
• Pitner Driving School holds driver education classes for local teens on the MUS property.
• MUS hosts an informal Mathcounts competition in January with approximately 7 schools (about 100 students total) participating.
• United Housing held their Home Buyer Education program for Spanish-speaking consumers at MUS in 2006.
• The school was the site of the 2006 Community Unity luncheon, presented by the Memphis chapter of the SCLC.
• MUS has served as a location for the filming of TV ads for local businesses and the pilot episode of the television series Southern Comfort. It also recently was the location for a Justine magazine fashion photo shoot.
• The school has been host to a college sorority fair for high school seniors.

Leadership Program

• MUS sponsors Summer SLAM, a summer 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 (3,300 total, including about 2,000 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.

Over 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, Juvenile Court Referee Dan H. Michael ’72, City Council Chairman O. Thomas Marshall IV ’77, and State Representative Brian K. Kelsey ’96.

Memphis Magazine’s list of Who’s Who for 2006-07 includes Russell E. Bloodworth, Jr. ’63, Joseph R. “Pitt” Hyde III ’61 (Who’s Who Hall of Fame), Allen B. Morgan, Jr. ’60 (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 2007) included three alumni – G. Staley Cates ’82 (#76), Frederick W. Smith ’62 (#3), and Joseph R. “Pitt” Hyde III ’61 (#2).

Business TN “150 Best Lawyers” (January 2007) included six MUS alumni – Ben C. Adams ’74, William H. Fones, Jr. ’69, John A. Good ’76, R. Hunter Humphreys ’70, William P. Kenworthy ’65, and Shepherd D. Tate ’70.

Thirteen of the Memphis Business Journal Top 100 Private Companies for 2006 are headed by MUS alumni: Dunavant Enterprises, Inc. (#1), Bryce Corporation (#11), Adams Keegan, Inc. (#21), Chuck Hutton Chevrolet (#24), Mallory Alexander International Logistics (#26), Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC (#29), Montgomery Martin Contractors LLC (#56), Boyle Investment Company (#62), Fogelman Properties (#67), ALCO Properties (#86), Stein World LLC (#90), MCDR, Inc. (#98), Seabrook Wallcoverings, Inc. (#100).

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., Greater Memphis Arts Council, 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.