Celebrating Decherd Center's Anniversary

A special guest joined the Upper School assembly today – a man who Eugene McDermott Headmaster David W. Dini introduced as “one of the architects of the modern St. Mark’s.” As students took their seats in the H. Ben Decherd Fine Arts Center, Dini introduced Life Trustee and Distinguished Alumnus Robert Decherd ’69, who spoke to the boys on the 50th anniversary of the Decherd Center’s opening.  

 

Decherd used the anniversary of the Fine Arts Center as just one example of visionary St. Mark’s leaders wishing to honor others while advancing the School’s mission.  

 

“This building exists because Cecil and Ida Green wanted to build it,” Decherd said. “And it was their condition that it be named after my father, [Former Board President] H. Ben Decherd. It’s not just about fundraising campaigns and pats on the back. It’s about relationships and common values. That’s an important point to make as we celebrate this anniversary.” 

 

Dini and Decherd took students back in time, exploring St. Mark’s campus master plan through the decades, which Decherd helped foster. One pivotal inflection point was the decision to completely reorient the campus from west-facing to north-facing. As St. Mark’s entered its second century, this idea came to fruition when Davis Hall was replaced with Centennial Hall, thus expanding the Perot Family Quadrangle.  

 

“A master plan is constantly evolving. But to be done well, you need continuity, and you have to respect the basic tenets that supported the original plan,” Decherd said. “And that is what’s happened over the last almost 40 years – a very deliberate, very consistent pursuit of the ideas of the original master plan.” 

 

Before closing, Decherd expressed hope that the fellow Marksmen sitting in the auditorium would uphold their commitment to St. Mark’s core principles.  

 

“It’s one thing to say that our School is all about character and leadership. It’s another thing to evidence it by how we comport ourselves, how we respect one another, and how we work together,” Decherd said. “It’s up to all of us, and especially the next generation, to apply these same values and principles going forward.” 

 

After graduating from St. Mark’s and Harvard University, Decherd became one of Dallas’s most prominent businessmen. He served as chairman of the board, president, and CEO of A. H. Belo Corporation, publisher of The Dallas Morning News. Since retiring from Belo Corp., Decherd now serves as chairman of Downtown Dallas Parks Conservancy, a nonprofit promoting public parks within the urban core. 

 

Decherd has also dedicated much of his life to St. Mark’s, becoming one of its most stalwart supporters of the modern era. He served on the Board of Trustees for 20 years, including as Board President from 1988-1991 and was named a Distinguished Alumnus in 1998 and Life Trustee in 2004. 

 

“What has kept me engaged is the caliber of everything that happens at St. Mark’s,” Decherd said in a recent interview with the School. “When you see something of this quality, not only sustained but improved continuously over time, you are naturally drawn to it.”