Richard E. Batey

Katherine Buchanan, Portrait Artist
It was the fall of 1991 when Casey Nolan ’93 first heard “Champions of Character,” Coach Eddie Batey’s charge to his cross-country runners. For Nolan and his teammates, it was more than a catchphrase – it was an ideal they incorporated into eight-mile training runs and sweltering races. Their adherence to the principle paid off in back-to-back state championships that year and the next.
Owl harriers benefited from his leadership from 1984-2000, but that thread of character-development runs throughout Eddie Batey’s 38 years of counseling (Lower School and Upper School), teaching (science and psychology), and coaching (including basketball and track) at Memphis University School.
 
In 2007 he co-founded and directed a Lower School leadership curriculum that included speakers, volunteer projects, and field trips. Batey also served as faculty advisor for the school’s Civic Service Organization. In 1989 he received the John M. Nail Outstanding Teaching Award, and in 2014 the Jean Barbee Hale Award for Outstanding Service.

A Rhodes College graduate, Batey earned his master’s in counseling from the University of Memphis while teaching science at MUS full time and coaching three sports. Upon receiving his diploma, he added to his course load the teaching of psychology to Upper School students. In the mid-1980s, he was promoted to director of counseling.
 
In all his roles, Batey always had a heart for serving others and helping students achieve success and overcome challenges. He personified the MUS Mission Statement tenets of excellence, service, and leadership.
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