University of Memphis
The University of Memphis is a public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students.
The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering, the Center for Earthquake Research and Information, the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, the former Lambuth University campus in Jackson, Tennessee, the Loewenberg College of Nursing, the School of Public Health, the College of Communication and Fine Arts, the FedEx Institute of Technology, the Advanced Distributed Learning Workforce Co-Lab, and the Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology. The University of Memphis is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High research activity".
History
In 1909, the Tennessee Legislature enacted the General Education Bill. This bill stated that three colleges be established, one within each grand division of the state and one additional school for African-American students. After much bidding and campaigning, the state had to choose between two sites to build the new college for West Tennessee: Jackson and Memphis. Memphis was chosen, one of the main reasons being the proximity of the rail line to the site proposed to build the new college for West Tennessee. This would allow professors and students to go home and visit their relatives. The other three schools established through the General Education Act evolved into East Tennessee State University, Middle Tennessee State University, and Tennessee State University.Prior to the establishment of the West Tennessee State Normal School pursuant to the General Education Bill, a number of higher education departments existed in Memphis under the banner of the University of Memphis. This earlier University of Memphis was formed in 1909 by adding to an already existing medical school's departments of pharmacy, dentistry, and law.
On September 10, 1912, West Tennessee State Normal School opened in Memphis; its first president was Seymour A. Mynders. By 1913 all departments of the earlier University of Memphis, except the law school, had been taken over by West Tennessee State Normal School. After Mynders' death in 1913, John Willard Brister was chosen to take his place. After Brister's resignation in 1918, Andrew A. Kincannon became president. In 1924, Brister returned to his post as president of the school.
The name changed in 1925 to West Tennessee State Teachers College. In 1931, the campus' first newspaper, The Tiger Rag, was established. In 1939, Richard C. Jones became president of WTSTC. In 1941, the name was changed to Memphis State College, when the college expanded its liberal arts curriculum. In 1943, Dr. Jennings B. Sanders succeeded Jones as president. Three years later, the first alumnus to become president, J. Millard Smith, was appointed. In 1951 MSC awarded its first B.A. degree. In 1957 the school received full University status and changed its name accordingly to Memphis State University.
In 1959, five years after Brown v. Board of Education was decided by the Supreme Court of the United States, holding that racial segregation in public education was unconstitutional, the university admitted its first black students. Racial segregation was the norm throughout the South at the time. The Memphis State Eight, as they were known, were admitted to Memphis State University. Their presence on campus was the focus not only of intense media scrutiny but severe criticism from much of the local public. Ostensibly for the black students' safety and to maintain an air of calm on the campus, university administrators placed certain stringent restrictions on where and when the black students could be on campus. They were to go only to their classes, not to any of the public places on campus, such as the cafeteria; and they were to leave the campus immediately after they had finished their last class. These limitations were lifted after the novelty of their presence on campus had subsided and the public's focus on their presence there had lessened, and as more and more black students were admitted to the university, all such social restrictions were dropped. Today, black students make up more than one-third of the campus student body and participate in all campus activities.
Cecil C. Humphreys became president of MSU, succeeding Smith, in 1960. In 1966, the school began awarding doctoral degrees. Humphreys resigned as MSU president to become the first chancellor of the newly formed State University and Community College System, later renamed the Tennessee Board of Regents. John Richardson was appointed interim president.
In 1973, Dr. Billy Mac Jones became president. Also that year, the Memphis State Tigers men's basketball team reached the finals of the NCAA tournament, only to fall at the hands of a UCLA team led by future NBA superstar and Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton in the NCAA Basketball Championship Game in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1980, Thomas Carpenter became president of MSU; he was succeeded by V. Lane Rawlins in 1991. On July 1, 1994, Memphis State University changed its name again, to the current University of Memphis.
V. Lane Rawlins served from 1991 to 2000; Dr. Ralph Faudree filled in as interim president for one year after V. Lane Rawlins' departure. In 2001, The U of M installed its first female president, Shirley Raines, who retired in the summer of 2013. During her tenure, the Tigers men's basketball team again reached the NCAA Finals, only to later have the appearance vacated after an NCAA investigation. After a yearlong search, Dr. M. David Rudd was confirmed as the 12th president on May 1, 2014. In the spring semester of 2020, the university joined thousands of other institutions and made a mid-semester shift to online classes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and also introduced a credit/no credit grade option in lieu of the traditional grading scale for that semester.
Campus
The University of Memphis campus is located approximately east of downtown in the University District neighborhood of east Memphis. It has an area of, although this figure does not include the law school in the former United States federal customshouse in downtown Memphis, which opened in January 2010. The historic core of campus encompasses approximately.Campus planners have significantly increased the amount of green space and the number of walkways over the past several years while maintaining the original historic architecture of the campus.
Surrounding the university's main campus are several historic neighborhoods to the north and east, as well as the University District neighborhood and the commercial Highland Strip to the west. Many University of Memphis college students also reside in housing south of the main campus.
Layout
The University of Memphis campus is set out in a rectilinear format, planned as a geometric design similar to the Jeffersonian style of the University of Virginia.Despite the gradual expansion of the campus to the West and South, the campus is fairly compact and retains a park-like, tree-lined setting. The farthest distance on campus takes about twenty-five minutes to walk. According to the most recent master plan, the University of Memphis is projected to expand and redevelop additional areas one block west of the main campus' current western boundary of Patterson St., making Highland Avenue the "de facto" entrance to the university.
Main Campus
The center of the main campus comprises buildings that made up the original campus. The first college buildings, including Scates Hall, Manning Hall, Mynders Hall, and Administration Building, were erected in the early 20th century. This section stretches from Patterson St. south to the end of the main campus at Walker Ave., with most buildings surrounding Alumni Mall and Student Plaza. The majority of the buildings of the arts and humanities departments, as well as those of the Physics and Astronomy departments of the College of Arts and Sciences, are located in the original areas of campus.Flanking the original area of campus to the east are the areas of major research for The Life Sciences and Engineering departments, including J.M. Smith Hall, Life Sciences Building and Herff College of Engineering Complex, as well as the College of Education, residing in E.C. Ball Hall, and the Art Museum of the University of Memphis, located in the Communication and Fine Arts Building. The Ned R. McWherter Library, a state-of-the-art library facility and one of the premier research libraries of the Mid-South United States, takes up the eastern part of the campus adjacent to Dunavant Plaza and Emeriti Grove.
The northwestern area of the main campus includes The Fogelman College of Business and Economics, The Fogelman Executive Center, and The FedEx Institute of Technology, a major research contributor in the areas of Supply Chain Management, Nanotechnology, Robotics and Intelligent Systems. Originally, at the north end of the campus, Norriswood Avenue formed the northern boundary. The campus expanded into this residential area in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The western edge and southwest corner include Johnson Hall, Patterson Hall, John S. Wilder Tower, Greek Row, and the bulk of The University of Memphis residence halls. As The University of Memphis presses ahead with its planned expansion, many more facilities, pedestrian access, and green space will also be created with the renovation and development of the current residential block west of Patterson St. in the University District neighborhood.
On January 29, 2013, Governor Bill Haslam announced a $44.6 million state budget pledge for the Community Health Building, which is the new home of The Loewenberg College of Nursing and The School of Communication Sciences and Disorders. The University of Memphis was required to raise $15 million from private funds to match the state funds.
In 2017, the university announced plans for a new Veterans Care Center on campus. Located in the Psychological Services Center on campus, the Veterans Care Center "will address the mental health needs of veterans, regardless of era, gender, discharge status or service connection."
In 2019, the university opened the Hunter Harrison Memorial Bridge, providing for the first time in school history a pedestrian crossing that connects the main campus and the campus areas south of the Norfolk-Southern railroad with uninterrupted access. This bridge connects to the new Southern Parking Garage, as well as the new $30 million Student Recreation & Fitness Center completed in 2021, expanding the area of the campus south of the railroad tracks. The university completed construction in November 2022 of the new $44 million Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music building on Central Ave., beginning a major northward expansion of campus across Central Ave.