Going the extra MILE

Students with the Memphis Institute for Leadership Education will kick off their Spirit of Memphis campaign with a pep rally today at 1 p.m. at the Memphis Mariott East, where organizers are encouraging citizens to fall in love with their city.

"I have lived my whole life in Memphis and have always heard people talk negatively about it," said MILE committee member Mindy Lane. "People from out of town love Memphis, think that it's a great city and understand what it has to offer. We want the citizens to feel like this too."

The rally will feature speakers from presidents and representatives of several community improvement organizations, including MPACT Memphis, the Memphis Music Foundation and Leadership Memphis.

The goal of the organization is to improve Memphians' negative perspectives on their city and help citizens appreciate the environment they live in. MILE hopes to achieve this by teaming with community partners and having citywide pep rallies, like the one this weekend, later in the spring.

"We will be informing people about the campaign and bringing our enthusiasm, like what you'd see at a football game," said department of management chair and MILE co-director Robert Taylor.

Taylor said that the students involved in MILE, a mentoring program for juniors and seniors in Fogelman College of Business and Economics, are often more inspiring than the spirit he's seen from civic leaders. He said he hopes to have another citywide rally April 8-10, where more than 90 businesses in the Memphis area will be asked to host a small event to spread the spirit.

MILE offered a list of ideas, such as potluck lunches, food contests or Memphis Tribute Karaoke, to area participants, however businesses are encouraged to find their own ideas. Thus far, the themes are "Favorite Music Day" on Thursday, "Favorite Food Friday" and "What You Love about Memphis" Saturday.

"For example, a company could have lunch rally and have it Elvis-themed, and people dress up as Elvis, or one day they could play some local Memphis music," Taylor said.

MILE committee member Jared Bulluck said he was inspired to join after hearing the negative talk about the city.

"A couple of weeks ago, (Memphis Mayor) A C Wharton mentioned the big problem is that people will watch the 10 p.m. news, hear all the bad stuff and think about that the next day, as opposed to the good things."

MPACT Memphis President Gwyn Fisher said Memphians were defeating themselves by harshly criticizing their city.

"We are one of the most unique, amazing, soulful cities in the world, and yet we spend a disappointing amount of time talking negatively about our city," she said. "The Spirit of Memphis is a one-of-a-kind event that will help turn the tide on this negativity and remind us all of what an amazing city we live in."

Bulluck expects today's kickoff to be successful, despite some comments from naysayers who expect the rallies to fail.

"A lot of people have said that this is a waste of time, but that is the whole point of this. We want to make people not think this way," Bullock said. "We are expecting a huge turnout. There will be lots of spirit, and we are going to have a good time, Memphis style."