MUS: A Leadership Institution - January 2007

“I credit MUS and my entire experience there with much of my success in life. The strong core values of honesty, discipline, community, charity, good sportsmanship, fairness, responsibility, and faith in divine providence which I learned there, and which were constantly strengthened while at MUS, have guided me through college, law school, my career as a lawyer, and as a husband and father.”
– Kent Ihrig ’77, Attorney
Schumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP

MUS has always been a leadership institution, and our alumni and students offer powerful support for that assertion. The chairman of our Board of Trustees, Trow Gillespie ’65, suggests that the best way to measure the leadership benefit of an MUS education is first to look at what our graduates are doing 20 years out and second to ask them how influential their MUS experiences were in their growth and development. After graduation, our nearly 3,300 alumni are demonstrating an outstanding track record of leadership, professional success, and civic involvement:

• Over 50 percent of our local alumni have graduate or professional degrees.
• Approximately 300 Memphis-area alumni are corporate officers (presidents, vice presidents, CEOs, CFOs, or COOs) of various companies.
• Hundreds of alumni volunteer thousands of hours annually to religious and civic organizations; about 200 alumni serve on the boards of over 300 different non-profit groups.

And the enthusiastic feedback that we consistently get from graduates – comments like Kent Ihrig’s above, the volunteer hours given to the school, the participation in school events, and the donations to the Annual Fund all testify that these men attribute much of their success to MUS.

What happens here that encourages success and fosters leadership? Certainly in the earlier years of the school, after it reopened on Park Avenue in the 1950s, we had no formalized leadership development programs for the students. What we did have and what we still have are faculty and coaches who lead by example, exhibiting honesty, fairness, and a steadfast dedication to what is right. Having positive role models of authority, both in the home and at school, guides boys to make informed, intelligent decisions as mature citizens.

Teachers at MUS create an environment for leadership development not only by how they act, but also by how and what they teach. Their emphasis on a strong liberal arts curriculum ensures that our boys have a well-rounded education. A solid background in Western civilization gives our students a leg up as they become adults – by understanding how the world has evolved, they can better understand where society is going and how they can shape its direction.

It may seem paradoxical at first that outstanding teachers – leaders themselves – often take a backseat to encourage students to take on leadership roles in school organizations, publications, clubs, and civic service projects. But by putting responsibility on the shoulders of the boys, the MUS culture gives them the opportunity to succeed or to fail. Their actions and involvement determine the end result of any given project. Giving the students ownership of various undertakings forces them to realize how much work is involved for an endeavor to be successful, gives them the opportunity to manage other people, makes them aware of deadlines, and keeps them accountable for their work and the work of others.

Student leadership is stressed here at MUS. And while not everyone can be the Student Council President or the Honor Council President, other opportunities abound and everyone can (and does) learn from the excellent examples set by the older students. In fact, boys who show little leadership potential in high school often go on to use the skills they have absorbed by osmosis here to become leaders in college and beyond. I believe that another important reason that MUS fosters strong leadership is that it is a single-sex school. In a school for boys, boys cannot abdicate moral leadership nor can they deny their sensitive side. At a boys’ school, if we have community service, boys must provide it. If we have moral leadership in support of our Honor Code and Community Creed, boys must furnish it. If we build a caring, generous, tolerant, compassionate community, boys must build it.

A Strategy for Building Tomorrow’s Leaders

In order to strengthen our already solid position as a leadership institution, we have, over the years, created several formalized programs to encourage leadership development:

• The Rogers Leadership Forum brings a renowned speaker to campus each year to make a chapel presentation on leadership to all our students.

• This fall marked the debut of Memphis Leaders, a leadership training initiative of the Hull Lower School . Even as pre-teens, boys take on leadership roles in the Lower School Student Council, Honor Council, clubs, and teams. Integrating traditional academics with extracurricular activities, alumni involvement, prominent speakers, field trips into the community, counseling, and student support services, Memphis Leaders aims to provide a variety of experiences that will enhance each boy’s leadership potential. The fundamental goal of the program is to make boys more aware of themselves (their strengths, weaknesses, goals, and interests) and how they can best make a positive impact on those around them.

• The Springfield Scholars program rewards the best and brightest in the eighth grade (the top 10 percent academically who also exhibit outstanding character) with public kudos and a $1,000 scholarship to our ninth grade.

In the Dunavant Upper School , the Kemmons Wilson Leadership Development and Counseling Center has several programs that encourage older students to be positive role models and leaders.

• During the first week of the year, upperclassmen are counselors at Owl Camp, the orientation for incoming seventh-grade students.
• The Counseling Department has an organized peer-tutoring program, in which older students provide subject-specific or general academic assistance to other students.
• A mentoring program pairs three juniors or seniors with ten eighth-graders for tips on navigating adolescence.
• Juniors and seniors apply to be Student Ambassadors, who represent the school as they host prospective families and other groups on tours of the school.
• The Wilson Society recognizes seniors who have proven to the community and to themselves that they understand the MUS Community Creed by incorporating its principles into their lives. In order to be inducted into the society, seniors who participate (typically 30 percent of the class) must submit an essay on the Honor System, teach a Lower School class, participate in an overnight service project, show respect to others, and work one-on-one with a younger student.

At MUS, we say to our boys, both implicitly and explicitly: “We know you will be leaders. What kind of leadership do you want to offer?” With respected authority figures, reliance on the Honor Code and Community Creed, and emphasis on deliberately developing leadership skills from the seventh grade through their senior year, we believe we give our students the education, the opportunities for leadership experience, and the exposure to positive role models necessary to build a firm foundation for the leaders of tomorrow.

The Rules of the Road - February 2006

Safe driving for teenagers is not a trendy topic. It doesn't have a lot of buzz. But I know that for parents of high-school students, it's always in their minds. It's a quiet, persistent, incessant concern. In 2003, the automaker DaimlerChrysler conducted a survey of 400 parents of 15- to 18-year-olds. Thirty-nine percent said their children's driving safety was one of their top worries. That percentage was higher than the 31% who named drug abuse or the 17% who named alcohol abuse (respondents were allowed to name multiple concerns). And parents certainly have cause for worry - automobile accidents are the leading cause of death for children ages 15-19. In 1999, for instance, there were more than two million teen driving accidents and 6,000 deaths. In the last 10 years, more teens died in car accidents than American soldiers died during the 10-year Vietnam War.

Teens are inundated with warnings about the risks of drunk driving, but everyday actions and distractions prove perilous, as well. Not paying attention, going a little over the speed limit, eating or drinking, changing CDs or operating iPods, goofing off with friends, talking on cell phones, bending over to pick up something that fell on the car floor- all of these seemingly innocuous actions contribute to millions of accidents and thousands of fatalities a year for teenage drivers. According to police reports, 82% of teen accidents are caused by error on the part of the teen driver. Researchers at the University of Utah found that when 18- to 25-year-olds were placed in a driving simulator and talked on cell phones, they reacted to brake lights from a car in front of them as slowly as 65- to 74-year-olds who weren’t using cell phones. The results of the study indicated that motorists who talk on cell phones are more impaired than drunk drivers with blood-alcohol levels exceeding .08.

Especially relevant to the MUS community are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2002 findings that the motor vehicle death rate for male occupants age 16 to 19 was nearly twice that of their female counterparts. Male high-school students (22%) were more likely than female students (15%) to rarely wear or never wear seat belts. Boys are more likely to speed, to show off, or to engage in horseplay while driving than girls. It is no wonder that insurance rates are extremely high for teenage boys. And because they are legally liable for any damages in the auto accident of a minor, parents bear the brunt of their child's reckless driving.

Some more statistics - one out of three teens has an accident in his or her first year of driving. The crash rate of 16-year-olds is three times that of 17-year-olds and five times that of 18-year-olds. Experience with driving and the increased maturity that comes with age contribute to teenagers' becoming better drivers, as they get older. I applaud the State of Tennessee's Graduated License Law, which reflects the need to mete out responsibility to teen drivers as they are able to handle it.

• A teen driver (at least 16 years of age) must have a learner permit for a minimum of 180 days before he can apply for an intermediate license. Someone with a learner permit is prohibited from driving between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. When driving, permit holders must have a licensed driver age 21 or older in the vehicle. Everyone in the vehicle under 18 must wear a seatbelt.
  
• A teen driver with an intermediate license is prohibited from driving between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.  When driving, intermediate license holders may only have one passenger, unless one or more of the passengers are over the age of 21 or are siblings. Everyone in the vehicle must wear a seatbelt.
  
• A teen driver must hold an intermediate license for one year before he may apply for an unrestricted intermediate license. He will keep the unrestricted intermediate license until he is 18 years old.

Teen drivers account for 7% of the driving population but 14% of all accidents and deaths. State law sets some restrictions on teenagers in order to help them grow into more responsible drivers. Parents have a duty to educate their children on the dangers of unsafe driving and to set restrictions on their driving, if necessary - by enacting curfews, setting rules for cell phone or stereo use, outlining punishments for traffic violations, or creating a driving contract. Ultimately, it is up to teenage drivers themselves to drive safely and lawfully; but as adults, we have a responsibility to take teen driving as seriously as teenagers’ use of drugs and alcohol. With our supportive but firm guidance, we can see a reduction in the alarming number of teen driving accidents and fatalities.

Internet Safety - January 2006

Technological advances in computing, online communication, and information sharing have accelerated at an extraordinary rate, and in many cases, children know more about the technology than their parents do. It seems that just as parents conquer one technology, another one appears that they must understand in order to set appropriate limits for their children. Your children may be sharing personal information and pictures with a network of users, often thinking that their postings will go no further than their circle of acquaintances. They do not realize that once their information is posted, it may be forwarded or shared with anyone on the Internet, including people who may use the information or images in insidious ways for harm. Some popular forms of online communication and their associated risks are the following:

• Social Networks: There is a good chance that your son is using myspace.com or facebook.com (both blocked at MUS). These sites provide users with an online presence that allows them to connect to one another, based on certain shared characteristics or interests. Both sites are extremely popular with MUS students. The amount of personal information that users share is alarming.
  
  • Not only does a user post pictures of himself, but the site also includes his full name, school name, age, and e-mail address.
  • Often children who use the site disclose more information than is appropriate, believing the site is a closed network of friends and peers.
  • Anyone may look up a school name and find information for any of that school's students registered to those sites.
• Blogs: Webopedia (an online dictionary for technical terms) defines a blog as “a Web page that serves as a publicly accessible personal journal for an individual. Typically updated daily, blogs often reflect the personality of the author.”
  • Because a blog is basically an online diary, it can include the same deeply personal thoughts and information that individuals share in their private journals. This information is available to any Internet user, who could potentially exploit lonely or emotionally vulnerable children.
• Picture Sharing: Picture sharing sites such as kodakgallery.com allow people to share digital photos over the Internet.
• The security offered by these sites is minimal. While the images are not available through a search engine, they can be forwarded to anyone.
  
• Children may unwittingly disseminate provocative or inappropriate pictures when they believe they are sharing private images with friends only.
  
• Webcams: These miniaturized cameras allow users to feed live video across the Web, without the need for a separate Web site. They can cost less than $25.
  
• The New York Times recently completed a six-month investigation into the use of webcams by teens to operate for-pay pornography sites.
  
• Chat Rooms and Instant Messaging (IM): Chat rooms are generally public online forums where people discuss topics of common interest in real-time. Most teens use instant messaging to invite someone whose screen name they know to chat, either one-on-one or with a group, again in real time.
  
• Posing as fellow teens, caring mentors, or desirable friends, pedophiles and other predators may use chat rooms to meet unsuspecting children.
  
• Children may accept unsolicited requests to IM from someone whose screen name they do not recognize.

• Talk to your son about what he can and cannot do online. Each family has to make judgments as to what is an appropriate amount and type of online access. This decision should be based on your child's age, his maturity level, and his record of responsible behavior in other areas.
  
  • In addition to setting limits on usage or appropriate content, be clear about what kind of online purchases he can make, and with what kinds of sites he may share financial information.
    
• Be open with your son and encourage him to come to you with problems he encounters online. Teach him to be aware of how his information can be shared, to be discreet about what he posts publicly, and to report any questionable communication he receives online to you or the technology staff at school.
  
• Learn everything you can about the Internet and the programs in which your child is engaging. Let him show you some of his favorite sites, and ask him whether he keeps a blog or shares any personal information online. He should be willing to show you the content that he shares publicly with other Internet users.
  
• Check out blocking, filtering, and ratings software. There are basic content control options available in Internet Explorer. You can also purchase commercial filters such as SurfWatch, NetNanny, CyberPatrol, or CyberSitter.
  
• Put the family computer in an area of your home where your son can be monitored. Most experts on Internet safety discourage letting your child have private, unmonitored access in his bedroom.
  
• Watch out for red flags, such as:
  
  • Your son quickly closing the computer screen when you enter the room;
    
  • Inappropriate images saved on the computer;
    
  • Messages in his e-mail from people you don’t recognize;
    
  • Phone calls to him from friends you don’t know;
    
  • Unexplained charges on your credit card;
    
  • His becoming more withdrawn as he increasingly spends time online. 

By educating yourselves and being more vigilant, you can help your children use the Internet in a safe and appropriate way.

Support for our Students - November 2005

A college-preparatory school, MUS is dedicated to academic excellence and to the development of well-rounded young men. That's our mission. As the word development implies, our boys are not yet fully mature, and our task involves helping them grow. We don't demand that incoming students have had exactly the same academic experiences before entering MUS. Even within the school, our boys comprise a variety of ages, shapes, maturity levels, aptitudes, and interests. We don’t expect seventh-grade students to act the same as seniors, and we don't expect our seniors to have the same instructional and guidance needs as seventh-graders. We hope that our boys become more independent, more self-disciplined, and more responsible each year they remain at MUS. Because we are a small school, we can challenge students academically and teach critical thinking skills, while at the same time we can focus on the personal development of each boy and his individual need for support. We offer a support system that includes individualized attention, counseling, advising, and mentoring as needed by each student. As we prepare our students for college and adulthood, we support them along the way. 

Lower School Support
Academic advising in the Hull Lower School, led by counselor Catherine Schuhmacher, is designed to help the boys become more independent, assertive, and involved in their own educations.

• All seventh-grade boys take a study-skills class and mandatory exam-preparation instruction during their first semester.
  
• ASAP (After-School Academic Program) provides supervised study for Lower School students, five days a week after school, proctored by an alumnus who is able to answer homework questions.
  
• The Lower School counselors review progress reports and grade goals with the boys in order to hold them more accountable for their work.
  
• Administrators and counselors meet with parents of students who are falling behind academically. Through early identification of problem areas and continued monitoring of academic performance, we do not allow boys to fall behind.

Upper School Support
Teachers provide a large part of the academic support here. They know the material, they know the strengths and weaknesses of their students, and they are willing to give the help to each student as he needs it and in a way that the student can incorporate it.

• All teachers have two or three free periods a day in which they are available to give individualized help to students. Faculty members also are often willing to meet before or after school to answer their students’ questions.
  
• The Counseling Center has an organized peer-tutoring program, in which older students provide subject-specific or general academic assistance to other students.
  
• Ninth- and tenth-grade students have monthly group advising sessions with designated faculty members who can address problems, academic or otherwise, that the boys may be having.
  
• In addition to its group programs, the Counseling Center provides one-on-one meetings with students to discuss personal issues and problems.

Support for New Students
New students at MUS come from many different educational, social, and religious backgrounds. For example, the seventh-grade class in the fall of 2005 drew its students from 28 different schools. Though we are proud of the diversity of our student body, we realize that each student has had different academic experiences before coming to MUS: the curriculums were not the same, the homework load was not the same, and the expectations were not the same for all students entering this school. Thus, we offer support services to help all of our students adjust to the academic rigor, the new social milieu, and the expectations of MUS.

• Incoming seventh-graders attend Owl Camp, a two-day retreat designed to foster friendships and begin creating a cohesive culture.
  
• Boys who enter MUS in the ninth grade traditionally have a student “buddy," a peer who can ease their transition by giving advice and introducing them to fellow students.
  
• Each new student in grades nine through twelve participates in the Vault program. Concentrating on three tenets—discipline, accountability, and respect—the program encourages students to take responsibility for their schoolwork. Coach Orlando McKay helps each boy design a study system that stresses organization and preparedness. He meets with each student from one to four times a week, with fewer meetings for the students who are making academic and organizational progress.

An academically strong curriculum will always be one of the defining characteristics of the MUS experience. We are preparing young men for college and beyond. We set high standards, and we motivate students to be enthusiastic and creative about learning in an environment of high academic standards. We are committed to helping all our boys rise to the challenge. As each boy needs it, we provide tutoring, one-on-one help, and study-skills instruction to help them toward independence, organization, and individual accountability. Each of our boys is important and worthy of our best efforts to help him achieve his highest potential.  

For the last several years, we have administered to our seventh- through eleventh-graders the PRIDE Survey, one of two national surveys selected by Congress to measure illicit drug use by youth. The bad news is that nationwide the percentage of students who have drunk at least one beer within the past year is 21% of seventh-graders, 33.5% of eighth-graders, 41.5% of ninth-graders, 47.7% of tenth-graders, and 54.1% of eleventh-graders. While we are below the national average in our Lower School, our students are very close to the national average in the Upper School. We know that they are not drinking at school or at school functions, but I believe that the school has an obligation to address this societal problem because it is affecting our boys and families. Our goal at MUS is to change the culture that accepts underage drinking, but we cannot do it without the support of parents.

Preteens and teenagers should not use alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs at all, and here's why.

It's illegal. It is unlawful for anyone under the age of 21 to possess or consume alcohol. The use of narcotics or other drugs unless prescribed by a physician is illegal under any circumstances. In Tennessee, a person who supplies alcohol or drugs to a minor, or who allows alcohol or drugs to be used by a minor when he or she is in a position to prevent that use, is subject to imprisonment for up to one year, or a fine of up to $2,500, or both, and may be liable for damages resulting from the minor's impairment.

It delays emotional and psychological development. When boys use alcohol or other drugs, they severely hamper their ability to develop the social skills and self-confidence they need to be successful.

It has a powerful, deleterious effect on the brain. The brain continues to develop through adolescence up until at least a person's early twenties. The younger the brain is, the more it is at risk. Alcohol and marijuana impair mental function in young people more than in adults; they reduce the ability of our boys to learn.

It leads to horrific situations. Alcohol or other drug-induced highs are responsible for injuries and deaths by car crashes, falls, fighting, and drowning. Removal of inhibitions can lead to vandalism, promiscuous sex, unintended pregnancies, and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

It's bad for your health. Alcohol exerts a direct toxic effect on the brain, heart, bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract, and the liver. Someone who passes out from drinking can die, and vomiting when drunk can lead to death.

It costs a lot. In addition to the legal costs associated with a drunk-driving conviction, insurance premiums rise. In purely economic terms, alcohol-related problems cost society approximately $100 billion a year. In human terms, the costs are incalculable.

But, it can change with education and commitment.  As a school, our objective is to teach boys the dangers of using alcohol and other drugs and to empower them to make healthy choices. If a boy begins drinking alcohol at the age of 15, he is four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than if he begins at age 21. And if he reaches 21 without drinking, the chance is almost zero that he will ever develop a serious alcohol problem.

Boys need a clear no-use message, factual information, and strong motivation to resist pressures to try alcohol and other drugs. With our students, we are focusing on education, student support groups, counseling, and referrals. Our programs and procedures are evaluated and modified annually. Our efforts aim at promoting a drug- and alcohol-free school community; producing well-adjusted, healthy boys; and helping families and students who have developed patterns of use.

Presenting students with facts fosters an attitude of responsibility for the choices they make. So that our boys can make educated choices, we provide student programs appropriate for each grade level focusing on refusal skills and responsible decision-making - programs such as Freedom From Chemical Dependency (FCD) and Alive at 25. Speakers in Friday chapels address emotional, medical, legal, and traumatic consequences of drug and alcohol use. A mentoring program between Upper School leaders and eighth-graders and student-led organizations such as Heartbeat in the Upper School and the Drug Free Club in the Lower School provide support for non-users and opportunities to change the culture.

Because research indicates that parents still have the greatest influence on a boy's choice of whether or not to use drugs or alcohol, we also focus on parent education. We distribute the Community of Concern booklet, “A Parent's Guide for the Prevention of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Use,” to all our parents. We, along with the Parents' Association, promote the Safe Home Program to encourage parents to communicate with one another and to provide boys a drug- and alcohol-free environment. We invite parents to meetings at school, at which experts discuss the issues. The Parents' Association sponsors Parent To Parent, a series of videos that empower parents to set appropriate guidelines, apply consistent consequences, and intervene effectively when necessary.

The Board of Trustees established the Drug and Alcohol Task Force several years ago to study the problem of student alcohol and drug use. Made up of board members, faculty, parents, and students, the group meets regularly to discuss issues such as drug-testing, drug and alcohol education, survey trends, parties, and sanctions against students and parents who do not respect the school's substance-abuse policy. They have determined that the school has a definite role to play, but that our impact is far less critical than parental impact. Bottom line, parents cannot be neutral - they are either part of the problem or part of the solution. Furthermore, parents who serve alcohol to minors undermine our school's philosophy, rules, and expectations, and jeopardize our students’ health and well-being. Some parents believe that if they serve alcohol to minors in a controlled environment, such as their home, they are protecting them. But the fact remains that if parents serve alcohol to their children's friends, they are breaking the law and exposing themselves to enormous legal and financial risk. And when boys are allowed to drink at home, they are more likely to use alcohol and other drugs outside the home, and they are at greater risk to develop serious behavioral and health problems.

As parents, take a firm stand against any form of alcohol or other drug use. Do not accept getting high or drunk as normal at any age. Exercise your authority and responsibility. Build relationships with your children based on mutual respect. Be persistent. You can be assured that, at MUS, we are. 

Boys' Schools Know Boys - November 2004

MUS remains deliberately and purposely a school for boys. We believe that we serve boys well. But why a boys' school? Why do we believe strongly in single-sex education? In short, we believe that girls and boys are different. At an all-boys school, we have the advantage of investing all our focus on the unique psychological, academic, and emotional needs that boys have during their adolescent years.

Focus on How Boys Learn Best. In her book, The War Against Boys, Christina Hoff Summers, W.H. Brady Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, contends that schools have become hostile to male culture and try to force boys into learning modes that are not natural to boys. Boys and girls have different learning styles. For example, boys use more space and do not enjoy group work as much. Boys prefer the spatial and love to manipulate objects. Boys tend to show frustration through anger rather than by crying and need more guidance to channel that anger and discipline themselves. Boys are less sensitive to nuances and respond better to logical constructs. Boys tend to be performance oriented and less relational. At a boys’ school, full attention can be given to how boys learn best.

Moral Leadership. In a school for boys, boys cannot abdicate moral leadership nor can they deny their sensitive side. At a boys' school, if we have community service, boys must provide it. If we have art and music, boys must create them. If we have moral leadership in support of our Honor Code and our Student Creed, boys must furnish that leadership. If we build a caring, generous, tolerant, compassionate community, boys must build it. In a boys' school, boys have more freedom to risk and achieve in areas that society might suggest should be the exclusive province of one sex or the other.

Camaraderie and Deep Friendships. The easy exchange of ideas and the friendships made in the classroom, on the playing fields, or on the stage in a boys’ school provide fertile ground for camaraderie and for inculcating core values through such institutions as the Honor Code. Deep friendships and personal loyalty to the school come more easily in this collegial atmosphere. As trustee Mark Halperin '67 put it, "Other than my family and religion, MUS has had the greatest impact on my life. Many of my most cherished relationships and business contacts originated at MUS.

Freedom from Social Competition. Because we are a school for boys, we can offer a rigorous education in an environment in which emotional energy is not directed toward posturing for the opposite sex. With fewer concerns about dress or hair or appearance, students are free from the rivalry and distraction inherent in a coed environment. Evidence indicates that across the country boys are becoming increasingly disengaged from school. At a boys’ school, peer pressure is to excel, not to disengage.

Variety of Role Models. A boy is intensely interested in what it means to be a man. Because we believe that men are a diverse group, a boys’ school with a majority of male teachers can offer a wide variety of male role models. Male role models in the classroom offer positive leadership images for boys in many areas: academic, intellectual, artistic, athletic, and spiritual. Boys learn that men love poetry, art, and theater as well as sports. Just as importantly, boys see men interacting in a collegial environment with women faculty members, providing a significant model of appropriate professional and social behavior.

The Product. The accomplishments of our alumni and their service and leadership in our community are greatly disproportionate to the relatively small number of our graduates. Alumni have played a large part in everything from the revitalization of Soulsville to safely transporting the pandas from China with the help of a little company - founded by an alumnus - called FedEx. In addition, MUS alumni serve on the boards of most non-profit organizations in the city. We prepare our boys for college and for life.

MUS is the best place to educate boys in this part of the country. Because we specialize in boys, the school's administration and faculty understand them better and are best equipped to meet their unique developmental needs. When we listen to the testimony of our alumni, we know that MUS and single-sex education really works. According to Kent Ihrig ’77, “I credit MUS with much of my success in life. The strong core values of honesty, discipline, community, charity, good sportsmanship, fairness, responsibility, and faith in divine providence which I learned at MUS and which were constantly strengthened there have guided me through college, law school, my career, and as a husband and father.”

MUS is the school for boys.

To learn more about the philosophy and advantages of a boys' school education, visit www.boysschoolscoalition.org.