Senior Awarded Princeton Prize for Race Relations

Senior Noah Cathey has been awarded Princeton University’s “Princeton Prize in Race Relations,” the University announced last month. This award "recognizes and rewards high school students who, through their volunteer activities, have undertaken significant efforts to advance racial equity and understanding in their schools or communities." Each year, only 29 high school students nationwide receive this award.
 
"Noah embodies the Path to Manhood statue," said Lorre Allen, Director of Inclusion, Diversity, and Human Resources at St. Mark's. "When you look for an example of a good citizen and good leader, Noah is that example. The Princeton Prize speaks to the ideals we teach at St. Mark's – the priority of inclusion and the ability to have healthy, respectful discussions with one another. Noah models this for his peers and we're all better for it."  

Cathey has been instrumental in raising awareness of inclusion on campus as co-chair and founding member of the School’s Inclusion and Diversity Leadership Council (IDLC), which fosters inclusivity and celebrates diversity in the St. Mark’s community. The IDLC’s premiere event, Marksmen Multicultural Night, held annually in March, showcases the unique backgrounds of students through an evening of celebrations, performances, and cultural food offerings. Additionally, Cathey helped the IDLC develop a series of student-led discussions known as Lions’ Tables, a program in which seniors meet with underclassmen to discuss the importance of community. As co-chair of the IDLC, Noah has encouraged and mentored DADYO (Dallas Area Diversity Youth Organization) leadership to harness their potential, inspire peers, and engage in meaningful community conversations around inclusion and diversity.
 
Besides his work on inclusion issues, Cathey was the editor-in-chief of the 2024 Marksmen yearbook, was a member of the varsity football and basketball teams and serves as south-central teen foundation chair for Jack and Jill of America. He also raised more than $31,000 through his passion project, “Noah Knows Literacy: Bring Back the Books,” which distributes books to more than a thousand young people in the greater Houston area.
 
As a recipient of the Princeton Prize in Race Relations, Cathey attended a “Symposium on Race” held at Princeton University. During the symposium, he met with and learned from other Princeton Prize recipients from across the country and spoke with others engaged in racial justice work and scholarship. 
 
The Princeton Prize in Race Relations is organized by more than 400 Princeton alumni volunteers, all dedicated to an inclusive and supportive society, who feel it is critical to this nation to address issues of racial inequity and develop better racial understanding. The organization operates through 28 regional committees, each of which selects a single student from their geographic region for the prize, in addition to a single at-large recipient.