McFarlin Memorial Auditorium in Dallas, Dallas County, United States | Auditorium

Welcome to the McFarlin Memorial Auditorium. McFarlin Memorial Auditorium is the site for many events at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas in the United States, such as commencement, graduation, the renowned Willis M. Tate Lecture Series, and other student programs. McFarlin Memorial Auditorium is also used to showcase international dance companies, famous vocalists, and nationally celebrated bands.
The Auditorium's genesis can be traced to a stormy Sunday in Ovilla, Texas during the late 1830's. A Presbyterian farmer, Benjamin Porter McFarlin, spent that Sunday helping a neighbor whose wheat crop had to be harvested to save it from the threatening weather. For this unselfish act McFarlin was "churched" (banished) by his congregation in return for working on the Sabbath day. McFarlin promptly offered a traveling Methodist minister the land and money to build a new church in Ovilla. the minister stayed and McFarlin became a Methodist.
By the early 1920's the students, faculty and staff of SMU had severely outgrown the capacity of Dallas, Texas, and Clements Halls. Arguments were put forth as to what the next campus building should be. In the end, President Selecman and the Methodist bishops made the visionary decision to build a chapel/Auditorium as SMU's third permanent building. Financing was secured by a generous donation from devout Methodist and San Antonio businessman Robert M. McFarlin, son of the farmer from Ovilla.
The McFarlin Memorial Auditorium was opened in 1926 to fulfill the University's pressing need for a chapel that could accommodate the entire student body. The building has evolved over time and continues to serve the University in the manner envisioned by SMU President Charles Selecman as "a place where we can have our friends from the community and elsewhere gather together on great occasions."