By Charles Gray

The University District was birthed a little over a century ago, but in the short time since, it has grown and flourished to be a unique and defining part for the city. When visiting the Highland Strip or University of Memphis campus, it's important to realize that the amount of culture and progress is able to be defined.

Enter historian Jimmy Ogle. 

The native Memphian and historian of the Bluff City recently gave a walking tour of the University District. He began his tour on the Normal Station Depot plot, walked to Highland Street, walked up the commercial street, then traced Midland Avenue back to the campus where he ended the tour at the Administration Building. 

For those who were not able to attend his walking tour, here's a list of the 10 fun facts about the area as gathered from Jimmy Ogle's tour.

By Kirstin Cheers

While kids around the city were giving Easter speeches in their new JCPenney and Macy's, puffy dresses with ruffled socks and patented leather shoes, youth at the New Olivet Baptist Church were performing their first production of the first Hip-Hop tale of the life and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

By Courtney A. Smith

The city of Memphis is considered to be the home of delicious barbeque along with having some of the best talent in sports, especially basketball. With food and sports being the talk of the town, art is another great aspect of Memphis that should be in the conversation.

Take the Five in One Social Club for example. The establishment has been in Memphis for a year and has already made its mark in the art industry.

Michael and Alice Andrews, who celebrated the Five in One Social Club one year anniversary last week, are originally from Wisconsin and came to Memphis looking for a perfect location to start their business. They eventually found the perfect spot on 2535 Broad Ave.

“We moved to Memphis seven years ago and started an art space called Five in One and social club was part of that, like a component of that where artists can get together and hangout and draw on their sketch books,” Alice said.

"A year we heard about a program called MIM Shop. MIM Shop is a small business that the mayor’s innovation team is running and we heard of it like a grant. So we heard about that and thought well what if we turned social club into a business where we taught people how to do things and open a store where we sold things made by all of the awesome local artists that we know," she added. "So that’s how we got started. We applied for a grant and we won the grant and now it’s a year later and things are going pretty good over here.”

Christopher "Dumma Boy" Gholson is a well-known music producer from Memphis, Tenn. He has worked alongside top Hip Hop artist such as Young Jeezy,
T.I. and Two Chainz.

He is the founder of Drum Squad Foundation and an activist in his community. Recently, Drumma presented a grand opportunity for Shelby County School (SCS) students to participate in a contest and have a chance to win $2500. 

The "Dream Summit" was a competition that served as a way for Drumma to give back to his community and provide young entrepreneurs a chance to showcase their talents. 

The event was held Saturday, April 26, 2014 at the University of Memphis in the FedEx Institute of  Technology. 

SCS students, parents and teachers attended the event to learn more about opportunities in the music and sports industries from a panel of industry leaders.

Ron Highsmith, Executive Director of Drum Squad, detailed the importance of the event is to expose the youth to understanding curricular development and gain knowledge about the business side of multi-million dollar industries.

"It is important to present more opportunities and careers they may not learn about in school,"
  said Highsmith, "This is such a broad and diverse industry, and they will benefit tremendously from this summit."

The objective for the contest required students to create and present a business plan of their choice, including branding, budgeting and other market strategies that strive to benefit the
community.

By L. Taylor Smith

Shelby Farms was filled with people eager to learn more about going green and living a more eco-friendly life. With performances by musicians and acrobats, plenty of fun activities and vendors selling everything from hand-carved furniture to scented candles, the coast of Patriot Lake was buzzing with activity.

By Akilah Speaks

U of M students participated in an Ultimate Frisbee tournament on Saturday, April 26. The proceeds were donated to Best Buddies, a non-profit special education program that pairs individuals with learning disabilities with high school and college students. The mission of the organization is  to bridge the gap between normal and indifferent by building friendships. 

David Specht, a U of M graduate, coordinated the event for a fundraising competition called Champion of the Year. The location of the event was held in the Recreational Center intramural field from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

"I knew alot of people in the Frisbee community and I feel this will not only be good for people with special needs but also a benefit to the community by spreading the word and contributing," Specht said.

Program manager, Brian McNulty, attended  the event and provided UDistrict with more information regarding the organization and how this event was beneficial to the program.  

By Charles Gray

A group of students have joined together to better the environment at the University of Memphis. 

Common Cents is a student organization that has events and functions to raise money for a variety of causes ranging from campus beautification to supplying the school with computers. 

Common Cents President Rachel Brandon along with member Eudarius Jones and U of M director of annual giving, Elisa Campbell Shaw, spoke with the UDistrict about Wieners for Seniors—a pop up event where Common Cents gave away free hotdogs in hopes of donations that would go to adding a tree and a bench to the campus landscape. 

By Akilah Speaks

In efforts to promote his new singles, "Leverage" and "Magnolia Trees," Apache demonstrated his political approach by giving back to the community and influencing the youth.

Contributing donations to the Mid-South Food Bank, independent artist Apache El collected food donations from students at the U of M to feed families in need.

"The future is now, we are the future" is the slogan for the campaign supporting the Future Now Youth food drive because he believes the youth control the changes needed to be made in society.

By Akilah Speaks

The University of Memphis recently opened a Veterans Resource Center on campus to help military officials and their dependents benefit from a college experience.

Located in the Panhellenic Building, it is open daily to student veterans. The building offers access to a computer lab and lounge area.

There are more than 600 veterans, active duty and dependents, who attend the university in hopes of obtaining a degree in their chosen career paths.

By Kirstin Cheers

When cacophonic harmonies and tragic memories dance together in Memphis, they create a stage of epic proportion.  

In true Memphis fashion, the anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will traditionally consist of candlelight vigils, silent marches and rowdy sermons from preachers who remember holding conversations with the great civil rights leader.

This year, however, the Memphis Symphony Orchestra (MSO) will celebrate one of the world's greatest revolutionaries with melodic strands of harmony, storytelling the emotions evoked from the sanitation marches in downtown Memphis to that fretful day on April 4, 1968.   

"Rebirth of the Dream" was inspired by the legacy of King as he stood at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, leading a generation of people from his years as a young preacher, father, but most of all- a radical- towards racial and economic freedom in America.  

The Memphis Symphony Orchestra seeks to revitalize the history, pains and victories with the power of music surrounding King and his contributions. In an unprecedented effort to unite individuals and communities, experiencing such an event could be compared to revisiting that period of time, witnessing the relevance and resilience of the Memphis community as they stood near King.  

Even though they go unnoticed, women in the 1960s stood with King just as much as men, and today, women stand even stronger as they seek to honor his legacy.