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Dear Reader, This past month at Deerfield has been one of frustration, excitement and change around campus. Most of all, this month has been one of growth, for the students, the faculty and the Deerfield community as a whole. When students and teachers participated in Saving by Shaving, we saw Deerfield in all its glory. After the new DC policy for drug and alcohol violations took effect, the Deerfield Day of Reflection emphasized a true unity throughout this campus. A new confidence among students to speak up emerged from this day of reflection: I strongly urge students to hold on to this assertiveness, as it introduces a new power for the students—a power that gives us the ability to effect change. The administration’s decision to change the DC policy back to its original state, which Dr. Curtis announced at sit-down lunch last week, seemed to disturb the sense of calm that had settled on campus. It did, however, spark further debate and engagement. I know that confusion and perhaps exasperation with the administration have reached certain heights. I encourage students to channel this energy into assserting their newfound voice and sense of power. A community isn’t a community if each part isn’t willing to speak up, so make your voice heard. With all that has happened on campus recently, I recognize the difficulty students and teachers alike have had to find time to take a moment to recognize the events occurring outside of the Pocumtuck Valley.But I urge you, reader, to recognize the dire destruction and hardship that Nepal is facing after two enormous earthquakes. To the teachers whose faces we will not see back on campus next fall, I wish you luck. I’d like to extend a special thanks to Ms. Fan, one of our two beloved Scroll advisors, whom the Scroll board will greatly miss. I am in awe of her endless optimism and sagacity, and I know that she will continue to inspire the people around her wherever she may go. Finally, allow me to extend my gratitude to the Class of 2015 for all their contributions to the Academy over the past four years. Their class is one full of hope and spirit: I am grateful for the positive influences they have had on the entire student body during their time here. Class of 2015, I wish you well, and I hope that you carry with you the vibrant spirit and fierce diligence and dedication that Deerfield has cultivated. To both the departing students and faculty, you will be greatly missed. Know that you always have a home here at the Academy. I wish you all the best of luck, though I know you won’t be needing it. Cheers, Bella Hutchins Editor-In-Chief

In the poem “American Sex Drugs and Rock and Roll in the Age of the Amphetamine Salt,” Aaron Bronfman ’15 wrote about the millennial generation in a startling, almost psychedelic style. Inspired by revolutionary Beatnik writers like Allen Ginsberg, Bronfman thought about the “generation of artists that Ginsberg writes about in Howl, these intellectuals on the fringe of a movement that is deeply non-intellectual or zapped of any kind of lateral profundity,” as opposed to his own generation. “Why aren’t [we] making art, writing [more]?” he asked. “What’s the difference?” Last year, Bronfman’s poem won the Junior Declamation in his English class but did not move forward to the finals due to its controversial content. Now the piece has won the country’s most prestigious poetry prize—a gold medal in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Over 300,000 pieces enter this competition, with less than the top .05% earning a Gold Medal. This accomplishment will send Bronfman to a ceremony at Carnegie Hall in June and to potential future success and recognition, especially considering that such iconic artists as Sylvia Plath, Andy Warhol and Truman Capote have received this award in the past. Why does 18-year old New Yorker Aaron Bronfman write poetry? When asked if it’s cathartic or therapeutic, he said simply: “I like the way that words express ideas. Each word has its own strong connection to the denotations and connotations of the words around it. Poetry can tell a different narrative and have a different style and feeling. I guess I write to play with that—to organize my own thoughts in the most succinct way.” According to Bronfman, he shares a desire for his work to feel “completely unspoiled by what other people need from me” like his own favorite writers, Kerouac and Rimbaud, artists who “take it on themselves to be unaffected by what people want from them.” At Deerfield, Bronfman said he had “really great, supportive teachers” who provided “new resources, new books, new ideas.” One such English teacher, Joel Thomas-Adams, described Bronfman as “one of the most complex and talented writers [I’ve] seen at Deerfield in quite some time.” Bronfman also remarked upon the luxury of seclusion at Deerfield, how “you can remove yourself from whatever craziness is at home, or whatever nonsense your friends are getting into,” and ultimately “seek out writing opportunities.” Bronfman’s most frequent subjects include God—“the notion of God as an idea, God as a thing”—and fabrication—“the artificial fabrication of things like love, desire, enjoyment.” So, is his work purely fictional, or are there autobiographical aspects as well? Bronfman shrugged and said, “Who I am is essentially a series of moments built up to now. I wrote from those. I take what I know.” Finally, Bronfman explained that in order to create good art, “writers need to have a lot of something. Happiness, fear, piety, love—whatever it is, they have to feel it intensely,” he said. “Because you can’t be mundane.” “The narcotic high is coming down. Outside, rush my generation’s most brilliant minds filled with the contents of textbooks. They no longer drag themselves through negro streets, but congregate in the millions for milligrams Of bubblegum ecstasy. Pink jumping beans bouncing to the nocturne of bass speakers and the acrid hiss of chemical dissolvent rockin’ and rollin’ in the frontal lobe. At least something is.” – Excerpt from “American Sex Drugs and Rock and Roll in the Age of the Amphetamine Salt”

For many Deerfield students, spring break was a welcome vacation. However, 30 musicians involved in orchestra and choir spent the two-week interval on the first-ever Deerfield music tour. The tour was divided into two parts: 10 days in Korea and 4 days in Hong Kong. During their stay, not only did the students rehearse and perform, but they also had many opportunities to immerse themselves in cultural experiences. Concertmaster Yong-hun Kim ’15 said, “[The cultural activities] were all engaging and entertaining. There was such a variety from cooking to religion, which was awesome.” The purpose of the trip, however, was to share music. Every concert was a collaboration between Deerfield and local schools. Surprisingly, even though the groups came from such different backgrounds and spoke different languages, they were able to warm up to each other quite easily. “When we were collaborating with the musicians, they were all on the same track,” said Director of Music Maaja Roos. “We had the same idea in mind–what kind of sound we wanted, what kind of crescendo we wanted. It was more interesting to see what was alike than what was different.” While in Korea, the musicians had to prepare for a performance every other day, rehearsing for six hours before hand. When not practicing, the group visited sights like Buddhist Temples and tasted Korean cuisine. “The Seoul part was longer and meatier and had a few more cultural things involved, said Academic Dean and orchestra conductor Peter Warsaw. “The Korean culinary experience was really intense with cooking classes,” The group’s stay in Hong Kong was less rigorous. There were joint performances, the final one being a four-hour concert with Diocesan Boys School and Phillips Exeter Academy. Despite the musicians’ success, the trip was also riddled with some hardship. A few days into the trip, sickness started to ravage the group. Nevertheless, the group persevered, executing an amazing concert at DBS without their concertmaster or second-chair cellist. “I know that some people will be hung up on the bad things,” Dr. Warsaw said. “But we were trying to learn and grow and do better, all the while trusting that depth and sincerity would carry us in some way through the lapses. And I really believe that happened.” All in all, the tour was a great success, a sign of just how far the Deerfield music program has come. With the Seong-nam concert to be broadcast on KBS, one of Korea’s major TV channels, Deerfield has left its mark in Asia. But more importantly, a real exchange happened during the trip, both musically and culturally. Cellist Lucas Kim ’17 said, “[For] every single concert, I can confidently say that the level of music produced was greater than before, and by the end, [there was] some really beautiful music.” Dr. Warsaw concluded, “I think a few people probably are going to have seen something, heard something, and said, ‘Wow, this is really cool; this is different.’ And I’m really happy about that. I think that’s the gift we might have left.”

Last year, Deerfield’s administration sent a survey to students inquiring about which areas of campus needed improvements or additions, and which areas were strongest. The results have been instrumental in helping facilitate a “Master Plan” to improve the quality of life at the Academy. Students highlighted three main areas of importance for improvement: the Athletic Center, the Library, and Health Center. Almost 80% of the 212 students who took the survey suggested that Deerfield needs a field house. The survey also demonstrated the desire for Library renovations and Health Center improvements. Keith Finan, associate head of operations and CFO at Deerfield, said, “What the Master Plan did was just say, ‘Okay, so what does everyone on campus feel is really important that we need to protect, and what are things that we need to improve or need to add to campus?’” Then the administration took action. It will authorize big changes in years to come based on the community’s input. Deerfield has partnered with Architectural Resources Cambridge (ARC) to make the Master Plan a reality. Mr. Finan said, “[ARC] helped us go through a campus Master-Planning process, where we and they met with every department on campus, both academic and administrative departments, to talk about current needs, their vision, and what they wanted to accomplish. These departmental meetings, along with the student survey, have helped ARC and the administration get a big picture of what the community feels needs to be changed.” The first task on the Master Plan is to renovate the Library. The process will commence at the end of the school year, to be completed by December 2015. After renovations, the Library will be home to more classrooms, group study rooms, student seating and several new offices. The new space will also include a permanent Innovation Lab in the basement. Overall, the Library will offer students additional space and comfort for studying, as well as additional resources. Next, the Master Plan will focus on improving the Athletic Center. Currently, the ice rink is one of the least energy-efficient buildings on campus. Therefore, the administration plans to build a more sustainable field house connected to a new ice rink. This new field house will be most beneficial when students cannot play sports outside in winter or bad weather, and it will give all the sport facilities extra space for practices and games. The Health Center remains another major area for potential improvement at Deerfield. The Master Plan provides more rooms and beds for ill students. It also seeks to expand the infirmary’s facilities. In addition, many question whether or not a dorm should be located above the Health Center. Does this location offer enough space the Deerfield Health Center requires? The Master Plan addresses these issues by ensuring that the Health Center becomes a more comfortable, better-equipped facility while maximizing the space available for dorm rooms and other communal needs. The Master Plan aspires to improve the quality of life at Deerfield for all members of the community. The Plan addresses key areas needing improvement but also preserves Deerfield’s traditional aspects. In the future, we shall see more elements of the Master Plan come to life.

Colleges, colleges, colleges . . . It seems like the whole school has fallen into chaos since college decisions came out a couple of weeks ago. Underclassmen and juniors walked around on eggshells on “Ivy Tuesday,” and cringed when they thought about going through the dreaded process themselves. But we here at The Scroll have a message for all of you worriers: everything is going to be okay. Some of you seniors are stressed about what you know is in store, and others still don’t have a clue about where you’ll end up. But we urge you to remember that wherever life takes you, Deerfield has you well prepared for it. Think about it this way: Deerfield is an environment that kindles the fires of hard work and responsibility. While inevitably some of us take to those qualities more than others, our Deerfield days have made sure that we all (yes–all of us) have the foundation necessary to succeed in college and beyond. We strongly believe that everyone ends up where they are supposed to, and that everything happens for a reason. So to all of the seniors leaving us in six short weeks, we wish you the best of luck….but we don’t think you’ll need it.

Deerfield has come a long way since its founding in 1797, as changes to the student body have shifted the Academy’s social culture significantly. English teacher Frank Henry ’69, who has taught at Deerfield for over 30 years, explained that Deerfield has become increasingly diverse, especially regarding gender. He said that the last year before coeducation (in 1989), “There was a lot of violence; it was not a kind place. The notion of mutual respect was not practiced.” He added that all of the changes on campus that have stemmed from coeducation have been “beneficial.” However, Karinne Heise, who has taught at DA for 25 years, notes a shift in the relationship between genders on campus since those early days of integration. “There were better causal relationships between girls and boys, more stronger and platonic with that first wave of girls. It is not as prominent now, and I don’t know quite why that is,” she explained. At most high schools, various groups of friends are categorized into groups such as “the academics,” “the athletes” and “the artsy kids.” However, Mr. Henry explained that when he attended DA, “That division was political. It was the ‘jocks’ and the ‘hippies’, and jocks tended to support President Nixon and the war, whereas the hippies tended to oppose the war and President Nixon.” He explained that the source of the political tension came from the time period: “We were young, healthy boys. By the time graduation was around the corner, everyone was talking either [about] going to college or getting drafted.” Recently, students have been talking a lot about a supposed “decrease” in school spirit. Dean of Students Amie Creagh said, “Someone [has always been] saying that for 16 years. There’s nostalgia for true school spirit, but I’d say that manifestations of school spirit are [simply] different.” Nina McGowan ’16 thinks that years ago “people were more present on campus, but now people are so stressed that they are always doing homework or catching up on sleep, and they would rather hang out in the dorms with a couple of their friends. It feels like people are being pulled in a million different directions, and they don’t have the energy at the end of the week to be present at the dances or show school pride at games.” Marc Dancer ’79 described one difference: dances used to be a huge deal. He said, “on most weekends we would [go to] away dances or home games.” Because the school was all boys, students would eagerly look forward to the dances with neighboring girl schools such as Stoneleigh-Burnham.” Mr. Dancer went on to explain that in the 70s, “everybody played backgammon and there was a school-wide tournament.” He even recalls running back to the dorm before sit-down to play. One of the most notable differences Mr. Dancer noted was the fact that “in order to enjoy your time you had to contribute to the community. Students had to make it happen.” However, now, Mr. Dancer noted, “students expect school to generate entertainment.”

Recently, Deerfield hosted admitted candidates for the 2015-16 academic year. As usual, the Spring Visit days consisted of Deerfield students, faculty and coaches sharing their daily routine with these prospective students. This year, for potential athletes, Deerfield tried a different approach in order to entice a larger group. Members of the community have long discussed how Deerfield could to attract more accepted athletes. This year, the Board of Trustees wanted to try a novel approach. Therefore, they told the Admission Office to get creative with luring high-impact athletes. Deerfield coaches have clearly identified these prospects as top competitors who would contribute immediately to a varsity sport at DA if enrolled. In order to compete with rivals such as Choate and Andover, which hold breakfasts and dinners for prospective athletes, Deerfield organized a dessert and panel of current alumni and athletes to speak with these identified athletes. For the panel, Deerfield invited four alumni back to campus to speak about their experience as high school and collegiate athletes, and their life post-college. Four current students also participated on the panel, which consisted of two boys—Jan Menafee ’16 and Zeke Emerson ’16 —and two girls—Lucy Lytle ’15 and Claire Collins ’15. The depth on the panel provided detailed insight on what athletics at Deerfield mean to the alumni and current students. Additionally, the panelists discussed life at Deerfield off the athletic fields. They highlighted that the Academy allows and encourages students to have a well-rounded high school experience. As Claire Collins said, “We are big enough that we can compete athletically on high levels and produce fantastic music, but we are small enough too that the community can support you and understand you from all angles.” In addition to playing other sports, many of the panelists also play instruments and are proctors, peer counselors, artists, actors, dancers and members of clubs. They push themselves to explore even more of the diverse spectrum of opportunities at Deerfield. Collins concluded, “I have found it manageable to remain a good and engaged student and pursue passions like athletics, arts and other activities. Learning to prioritize what you think is important helps you be able to utilize the Deerfield experience.” The panel’s success was immediately apparent, as many prospective athletes verbally committed to coming to Deerfield while others even submitted checks to officially enroll. The panel and athletic dessert gave these athletes a way to see the value of Deerfield sports and the school community, not simply our win-loss column. Looking ahead to future Spring Visit Days, the Admission Office plans to continue with this newfound success and also expand on it. They hope to include a student artist gathering as well, so that the Academy can yield other talented applicants. According to Admission Officer Dana Emerson, “The Admissions Office is open to suggestions about any other possible events for next year’s revisit days.”

Last year, Josh Peterson ’15 started thinking about leaving his rural Texas hometown for a postgraduate year. When Peterson learned about Deerfield Academy, he approached history teacher and varsity basketball coach Conrad Pitcher and former Admissions Officer and baseball coach David Irwin. Although Peterson plays football and basketball, he “wanted to go to a small Division III school for baseball.” When he first visited Deerfield, Peterson interviewed with Mr. Irwin, and a few months later he decided to become a Deerfield student-athlete. However, Peterson soon found out that Mr. Irwin was leaving Deerfield to work at Cardigan Mountain School. “When I found out Coach Irwin was not coming back,” he admitted, “I was rattled.” This past fall, Peterson wanted to focus on his grades, so he abandoned the football pads and lower levels for Special Exercise. One day, while Peterson was working out, classmate and rower Charlie Ughetta ’15 suggested he try to erg, but Peterson “didn’t really think much of it.” A few weeks later, Ughetta convinced Peterson to attend a crew meeting, which was a mix of new and returning rowers alike. As his interest in rowing grew, Peterson started to work out with College Advisor and crew coach Spencer Washburn. Soon thereafter, Mr. Washburn mentioned the possibility of Peterson’s rowing crew in college. Although he came to Deerfield with the intent to play baseball at a NEPSAC school, Peterson was now going on official visits to Dartmouth and UC Berkeley for crew. When Peterson got on the water for the very first time in Florida during preseason, he already knew he was going to Berkeley. Although new to Deerfield this year, Mr. Washburn has been around crew since his childhood and is starting his tenth year coaching. While Peterson’s individual experience as a PG is unique at Deerfield, Mr. Washburn noted, “Many talented athletes come to rowing later in their careers and find great success. Many of our Olympic rowers didn’t begin their careers until college.” The college recruiting process for crew, Mr. Washburn explained, is very similar to that of other sports. “Much of the process,’ he said ‘is about projecting potential and assessing the personality and character of the prospect.” Mr. Washburn spoke to Peterson’s exceptional potential as a rower: “Rowing is a leverage sport, and Josh has the height and length to really excel. However, rowing demands a great deal of work, so having the right frame will only take you so far. Josh has shown me that he has the right pieces, physically and mentally, to do well.” Though still new to rowing, Peterson explained that he has developed an entirely new athletic mindset as he transitions from baseball pitcher to rower. Even though he misses baseball, Peterson has an evident enthusiasm for crew: “There is no better feeling than all of your hard work paying off and gliding in front of the other boat.”

Coming to Deerfield has been the most fascinating and influential experience of my life. I was born in Singapore, and moved to Princeton, New Jersey when I was five years old. In my new home, I attended public school. There, we didn’t have mandatory co-curriculars as we do here. There were only eight after-school clubs open to freshmen, and most of them were very selective. The majority of my peers had no responsibilities. An average student might go home after school, smoke some weed, sleep and then waste hours of time doing nothing before finally starting his homework. Procrastination was the norm. My friends and I actually used to have contests to see who could waste the most time. None of this affected our grades or sports, though, because classes were a breeze and extracurriculars were non-existent. Looking back, I am not surprised by the shock I faced when I came to Deerfield. My lifestyle at public school was, in many ways, self-destructive and irresponsible. But the lack of motivated, high-achieving kids at my old school isn’t the only reason I struggled when I first arrived at Deerfield. I come from a very religious, Indian-American background. Accustomed to a life of going to temple every week in jeans, a graphic t-shirt and New Balance sneakers, I found out at Deerfield how sheltered I had been in Princeton. I was transitioning from a uniform society full of “typical public school kids” into a more diverse one, with country-club kids and poets, lacrosse PGs and robotics geeks. My public school repressed the individuality of its student-s; we were all mixed together in a dark cauldron of grey mediocrity. I was not surrounded by national-level athletes or brilliant mathematicians. That is why, upon arriving at Deerfield, I quickly formed an inferiority complex. Coming from a school with far lower standards, I found it hard on my sense of self to compete with some of the most social, extroverted, intelligent, athletic and artistically talented students in the country. I found myself questioning my place in the community and wondering what my purpose was at Deerfield. Making the adjustment harder was the fact that without my old friends and parents around, I couldn’t find the motivation to work as hard as I had in the past. As motivation decreased, the amount of work exponentially increased and I often wanted to quit. But through this stressful transition period, I learned something incredibly valuable. Initially, coming to Deerfield made me want to be someone that I wasn’t. I yearned to be more athletic, social and intelligent than I really am. But one day, a good friend of mine made me rethink my approach by reminding me of our school’s motto: “Be Worthy of Your Heritage.” I realized then that I was too busy worrying about who I wanted to become, and not focused enough on improving who I already am. I cannot imagine how different my perspective would be if I had never left Princeton. Deerfield, although very challenging at first, opened me up to the world and gave me a better sense of self. At the beginning of my transition, I was unsure if I wanted to continue at this school. But in the past seven months, I know that I have found my place in this small pond of big fish.

Before I came to Deerfield, I didn’t know how to do long division . . . I still don’t. Coming from a public school in Nova Scotia and arriving at one of the most prestigious private high schools in America was a difficult adjustment for me—to say the least. Back home, sports were my number-one priority. Upon arriving at Deerfield, though, I had to shift my focus to academics. I’d thought Africa was a country . . . So how was I supposed to decode Romeo and Juliet? My transition to Deerfield was especially difficult because of where I come from. I live 764 miles away, and at the age of 14, I was lost and confused as to why I was even here. I couldn’t manage my work along with sports and my social life. I sat in my first classes as a freshman and watched the 11 or 12 other students; their eyes were glued to the teacher because they couldn’t wait to learn. When I went to class back home, the 29 other students were barely there. Many slept through class, and others swore at the teacher until they were told to go home. (They did this on purpose, by the way.) While I was attending my public school in Nova Scotia, I never thought this dynamic was anything out of the ordinary. As far as I knew, everyone around the world was “learning” in the same way. It was normal for people to skip classes and not have homework, and the casual hallway fight during lunch break was no rare occurrence. But Deerfield showed me otherwise. Deerfield showed me that my old school wasn’t really a “school.” It was a place where no one cared about you or your academic achievements—not even your own teachers. At Deerfield, everyone wants you to excel. Your friends, teachers and peers all believe in you, and I never had that before. Coming to Deerfield without ever having experienced that type of support actually hurt my confidence at first: it took a while for me to accept that others wanted to help, rather than bring me down. It took me all of freshman year to figure things out. But with the support of teachers, my advisor, and my friends, I finally found a way to balance all the different aspects of my new life. By sophomore winter, I could finally say, “I got it.” And it was then that I was able to truly start enjoying my time here at Deerfield.

Every Friday morning, when Director of Student Activities Sam Bicknell sends out “The Weekend!” email, a few students eagerly await news of Interscholastic Dances. These dances have a long history within the world of New England boarding schools. Jared Armes ’15 remembers his freshman year at DA, when “[students] talked about ‘Pearl Street,’” a nightclub in Northampton, which supposedly hosted “wild nights of dancing [for various] New England Prep Schools.” Pearl Street is one of several clubs in Northampton owned by Deerfield alumnus Eric Suher and used to have high school nights for just students in the surrounding area. Although the administration stopped trips to Pearl Street five years ago—the year before Armes entered Deerfield—Armes believes Interscholastic Dances act as a replacement, and he values them as a “great way to meet kids from other schools.” Melanie Diaz ’17 said that the dances “mainly consist of minorities,” and “they play a lot of rap, reggae, and reggaeton.” Armes has also noticed the concentration of minorities and added, “It is interesting to see that those attending are almost entirely black, Latino or Asian.” Zakiya Newman ’17 thinks the Interscholastic Dances are important events, because “they allow the racial minority students to gather in a setting where they are the majority” and can “feel more comfortable surrounded by people [whom] they look like,” while experiencing “music and dance styles that they are used to.” Across most prep school campuses, there is a stigma that these events are for the non-white members of the community, but Diaz countered, “I feel that at Interscholastic Dances people feel very comfortable and welcome. Once you’re in there, no one knows where you’re from—they are judgment-free zones.” The Deerfield students who consistently attend Interscholastic dances have had great experiences, but our community is often not invited to other schools’ events. We have sent out buses to attend Interscholastic Dances on a few weekends this year, and even hosted one last year, but they actually happen more often than most DA students realize.. “Believe it or not,” Armes explained,” among other schools, [we are] not viewed in a very positive light.” Newman shared a similar opinion: “We do have a reputation for being stuck-up and having too much pride.” Diaz added, “Deerfield has a reputation of being the ‘typical preppy school.’” Choate, which often sends large numbers of students to these dances and has hosted many of them before, strongly opposes Deerfield’s attendance at these events. Armes once asked a Choate friend to describe a Deerfield student in a few words, and he responded with: “Rich. White. Preppy. Elitist. No diversity except Asians.” A student from a different school told Armes, “You guys are so formal. I didn’t think you all went to these type of things.” Another one said, “You have black kids at Deerfield?” Deerfield attempted to host an Interscholastic Dance last spring. Although we invited “over 10 other New England boarding schools, only one—Dublin Academy—showed up,” Armes said. The disappointing turnout made it clear that other schools are not interested in coming, but Diaz, along with many other consistent dance-goers, hopes for more success in the future, saying, “Deerfield should try to host more.” Newman, a Student Planning Committee representative, said, “It’s… hard to get everything planned in time for Deerfield students to go, even if we’ve been invited.” Often problems include no chaperone or bus, a lack of interest, remote host locations and conflicting Deerfield events. Although DA is often not invited to Interscholastic dances due to stereotyping, these dances have proved to be enjoyable for students who’ve been able to attend. Armes believes these dances serve simply as a great opportunity to have fun and meet new people: “I’ve made a lot of close friends by going [to a] night out in a new place.”

On March 25, 2015, the Aquila Theatre Acting Company performed Shakespeare’s The Tempest in the Hess Auditorium. The Aquila troupe, founded in London in 1991 by Peter Meineck, traveled through 70 towns and cities in the United States before finishing its tour at Deerfield Academy. Catriona Hynds, who has not yet directed a Shakespeare play at Deerfield, commented, “I had already presented Aquila Theater in my previous position as Managing Director of a large arts organization, so I knew that Aquila toured polished, visceral, and slightly scaled down versions of Shakespearean plays.” Not only did Aquila perform but it provided master classes and workshops. According to Hynds, “It was important that the production be used as a catalyst for a number of teaching opportunities in other departments too, such as the English Department.” Members of the company held three acting workshops open to everyone on campus. Students had the opportunity to work with the company and speak to them about being working actors and about specific performances and directorial choices. Hynds remarked, “It was wonderful to see people there who have never been in an acting class or performance before.” General reactions to the production were positive. Hynds said, “I was very happy with the quality of the production. Of course, there are things I would have directed differently, but being a director, that is to be expected, right?” Some students expressed disappointment in their preparation. Serena Ainslie ’16 commented, “I liked the performance, but I think it would have been helpful if every English class had been required to read the play beforehand.” Nevertheless, The Tempest gave the community the chance to experience a work of live theater and interact with professional actors. As Hynds remarked, “Live theater is very important!”