University of Memphis

The University of Memphis (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 (CERI), the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, the former Lambuth University campus in Jackson, Tennessee (now a branch campus of the University of Memphis), 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".

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 (ETSU), Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), and Tennessee State University (TSU).

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 (Jack) 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.