MENC Collegiate: Who We Are

The University of Memphis MENC Collegiate chapter strives to equip future music teachers with the necessary skills to teach music effectively to every child - ncluding the poor, ethnic minorities, children of the inner cities, children with special needs, and the highly gifted – by creating positive experience, facilitating academics success and ultimately, instilling the value of music within each student.

MENC Collegiate: Our History

The National  Association for  Music Education (MENC), with more than 120,000 members is the largest national association dedicated to the advancement of music education, MENC has a host of member benefits and professional growth opportunities for members.  It was founded in 1907 when 104 music teachers from sixteen states answered an invitation to take part in a special conference for school music teachers in Keokuk, Iowa.

Forty years later, the first chapters of MENC’s Collegiate membership were established in accordance with an authorization issued in 1946 from the MENC Board of Directors.

In 1930, progenitors of these chapters were the Music Educators Journal Clubs in which 90 students were enrolled.  By 1941, membership expanded to more than 1000 students.

A number of  these clubs began to undertake activities beyond the mere distribution of magazines.  Some groups held meetings, elected officers, and began to identify themselves as official campus organizations.  Some even ventured off campus to attend music education conventions.

Thus, beginning with an enrollment of 90 students in 1930, a foundation was laid for the inauguration of the MENC Collegiate membership program in 1946.  During the 1947-48 school year, 2734 students were enrolled as chapter members on 157 campuses.

MENC Collegiate: Why We Do the Thinigs We Do

The purpose of MENC Collegiate membership  is to provide students with opportunities for professional orientation and development while pursuing a degree in music education. Students will gain an understanding of:

• The basic truths and principles that underlie the role of music in human life;
  
• The philosophy and function of the music education profession;
  
• The professional interests of members involved in the local, state, division, and national levels;
  
• The music industry’s role in support of music education;
  
• The knowledge and practices of the professional music educator as facilitated through chapter activity.