A Constant Force
By Daniel S. Connolly’ 77
My Saint David’ s journey began in the fall of 1967 when I joined my older brother( a first grader at the time) in walking through the doors at 12 East 89th Street for my first day as a nursery student. In the ensuing almost six decades, the school has remained a constant force in my life – ever changing while remaining comfortably familiar and steady. Steeped in rich and dynamic traditions with the single-minded focus of our founders that all Saint David’ s boys be“ Good Men,” the school helped chart the course of my life along with the lives of every boy who has had the privilege to be part of the experience.
After graduating in 1977, armed with lessons well learned in both the classroom and on the playing field, I continued my educational path while maintaining those enduring early friendships – and bringing the Saint David’ s approach to my academic life. Upon completing law school, I returned to New York City and when we were blessed with two boys of our own, my wife and I immediately knew that there was but one school that was right for them. The joy and pride as an alum to watch my two boys develop and thrive at Saint David’ s is difficult to describe – and their respective graduations in 2010 and 2012 remain one of the highlights of my life. During their time at Saint David’ s, I was invited to join the Board of Trustees in 2006 and have had the extraordinary honor to serve as the President of the Board since 2015.
As we celebrate the 75th anniversary of this remarkable institution, I find myself reflecting on what it is that makes this school so special for me and the generations of young men that have passed through those same doors. It begins, I believe, with the steadfast fidelity to the mission that was developed by David Hume, Peter Clifton, Malachy Cleary, Richard Dryzka, and the extraordinary founders of Saint David’ s. Putting aside the audacity and courage required to start an independent school in the Catholic tradition in the 1950s that was not affiliated with the Archdiocese, the founders had a vision for educating young men with a balance between a rigorous academic program with equal attention to the athletic and the aesthetic. The idea of teaching the boys not only about the world in which they lived – but the role that each of them should play in that world – defined the experience from the very beginning and through to this day. Even in the early days of the school, the boys were taught the importance of being good sons, good brothers, good students, good sports, good citizens, good neighbors, good friends, good colleagues, good leaders and, of course, good men. On these core, fundamental principles, the experience I had as a Saint David’ s student is precisely the same as the boys who will be graduating this year and in the years to come. And therein, lies the secret.
It is difficult to measure or even comprehend the changes humanity has experienced in the 75 years since the school first opened. In 1951, the world was still emerging from the trauma and devastation of World War II, and the United States was about to embark on a period of economic growth and expansion as had never been experienced in our history. Core societal issues of civil and human rights, traditional family structures, and the onslaught of technological advances would dominate the decades – such that the world of today seems staggeringly dissimilar to that of the early 1950s. And while that is most certainly true, Saint David’ s has emerged rooted in the same ethos and values as defined her in the very beginning days. Finding the balance between a curriculum that recognizes and addresses the dynamic requirements of the modern world, with the core values and principles that remain universal and timeless – has brought us to where we are today. There can be little debate that the world a Saint David’ s boy entered in the 1960s bears little resemblance to the world of today, but our expectations of his c h a r a c t e r are remarkably the