Memphis University School
| Memphis University School | |
|---|---|
Veritas Honorque
|
|
| Location | |
|
Memphis, Tennessee United States |
|
| Information | |
| Type | Private |
| Established | 1893 |
| Grades | 7–12 |
| Gender | Male |
| Enrollment | 660 |
| Mascot | The Owls Yale Blue Harvard crimson |
| Rival | Christian Brothers High School |
| Yearbook | The Owl |
| Literary Magazine | The MUSe |
| Website | www.musowls.org |
Memphis University School (MUS) is a college-preparatory, independent, day school for boys, grades 7–12, located in Memphis, Tennessee.
Edwin Sidney Werts and James White Sheffey Rhea founded MUS as a college-preparatory school for boys in the fall of 1893. Their purpose was threefold: to prepare boys for competitive colleges, to provide them with a liberal arts education, and to help them develop into cultured Christian gentlemen. Patterned largely after Werts's alma mater, the University of Virginia, MUS embraced high academic standards, strong moral development, and an emphasis on athletics. The school adopted red and blue as its official colors to represent the academics standards of two universities, Harvard and Yale. In a short time, the school's reputation was so sound that many of America's leading colleges began to exempt MUS students from entrance examinations or allowed them to take the exams at MUS. After a disappointing initial enrollment, MUS prospered. Within three years, it outgrew its temporary quarters in the old Bethel Building in Downtown Memphis and occupied the Clara Conway Institute at 297 Poplar Avenue. Shortly after the move, the proprietors built their own building on a small campus near the corner of Madison and Manassas. There the school remained until 1936, when economic factors forced its closure.
The economic boom of the 1950s revitalized MUS, and classes began again in 1955 under the leadership of Col. Ross M. Lynn and a dedicated Board of Trustees chaired by Alexander Wellford. The School relocated to its current 94-acre (380,000 m2) campus at 6191 Park Avenue in East Memphis. By 1958, it graduated its first seniors. Like the first MUS, the new one emphasized academic excellence, high moral standards, strong athletic development, and gentlemanly conduct. Its student-enforced honor system became the moral heart of the school. During the 1960s, the new MUS grew to maturity. Seniors acquired off-campus lunch privileges; Hutchison School moved in next door; the Hyde Chapel was built; and sophisticated language labs were added. Leigh MacQueen became academic dean, Bill Hatchett guided annual student tours to Europe, and MUS worked at living up to its namesake. Clubs and other extracurricular activities proliferated as students increasingly helped run the school.
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