Helping Hands

Education is the elixir of the soul.

by Coke Buchanan

Ever since they met during their college days in California while doing volunteer work at a juvenile detention center, Callosities John and Lyn Muse have been involved in helping people to make a difference in their own lives.

“We believe those of us who have been blessed with good fortune have an obligation to give back,” says John Muse, Chairman of HM Capital Partners LLC (previously Hicks, Muse, Tate and Furst Inc.), a private investment firm based in Dallas. “We look at education as a way to provide leverage in our giving by investing in people.”

John, a 1973 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy who received his MBA from the Anderson School of Business at UCLA, and Lyn, a UCLA graduate with a bache- lor’s degree in Design, along with their five children, are trustees of the Muse Educational Foundation. The Foundation has been involved in programs with St. Mark’s School of Texas, The Hockaday School, The Episcopal School of Dallas, The American School in London, and St. Philip’s School and Community Center.

“One of the programs we admire and have embellished to add more students is St. Mark’s Brendan Court Summer Enrichment Program. Named for a student who lost his life, the outreach program opens the St. Mark’s campus to under privileged boys so they have access to the programs and resources of St. Mark’s,” says John. The goal of the program is to provide enhanced educational opportunities to the middle school students and to allow St. Mark’s students the opportunity to explore teaching by serving as class instructors. The four-week, tuition-free enrichment program focuses on literature, math, science, and social studies. The Foundation also established the Muse Middle Income Program to attract students from middle-income families. “This program helps the school recruit gifted students in a particular area to balance the mix of students and has received attention from private schools all over the country.”

St. Philip’s School of Dallas had a profound effect on John. “Headmaster Terry Flowers is an inspiration. He is making a tremendous difference in building a solid foundation in terms of education principles and values in one of the poorest area of South Dallas. It is an oasis in the middle of an area still struggling with low income, unemployment, and crime.” Through a matching gift challenge from the Muse family, the school was able to establish an endowment to secure its future. The Muse family has also provided capital to purchase land that converted buildings formerly used as drug dens to ball fields. “It’s extremely important to reach kids at this age, pre-K through sixth grade,” John says.

Among many other projects, the Muses’ commitment to education propelled them to be the lead donor in adding a wing to John’s elementary school in Tyler, contribute significantly to The Hockaday School capital program for its computer lab, and to help fund The American School in London expansion and renovation.

Troubled by the destructive tsunami in Asia and devastated by the obliteration caused by Hurricane Katrina, the Muse family contributed to rebuilding lives of Katrina victims. In Muse tradition, they looked toward education and training to bring recovery to people by establishing the Muse Family Katrina Scholars Program with Dallas Community College District, where Lyn serves on the board of directors. The program, funded by a $500,000 gift to the DCCCD Foundation, established an opportunity for 100 Katrina evacuees who chose to stay and rebuild their lives in Dallas County, to pursue an associate degree, elect to train in one of more than two dozen different job certification programs, pursue specific occupational training for six months or less, or redevelop their small businesses. The program’s first phase involves recruiting students displaced by Hurricane Katrina who are currently enrolled at El Centro College or are enrolled as seniors at one of the area high schools served by El Centro. The second phase of the program serves individuals seeking job training skills, and then assists them with job placement after they complete their training or occupational certification programs.

Education is the elixir of the soul. A heartfelt testimony for its empowering value was recently made to John concerning his mentoring of an SMU School of Business graduate many years ago. “Mr. Muse, you won’t remember me, but you changed my life. Through the guidance that you gave me, you inspired me to venture out on my own and be the successful person I am today. Thank you very much!”