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Accessibility on campus is a topic that oftentimes goes undiscussed, however, it is an essential part of creating an inclusive environment for all. Achieving an accommodating space ensures that those with disabilities have a near same experience and opportunity as those without.  For example, Annabelle Brennan ’23 talked about her brief time on crutches, saying, “I feel like the campus is accommodating.” She continued, “You just have to power through getting up stairs, and there are ramps, but they’re typically placed in very inconvenient places.” She concluded, “I think campus is easy to get around if you’re not on crutches for a long time.”  Most buildings around campus have ramps but they typically do not lead to the main entrance. However, Brennan shared that her experience maneuvering throughout dorm spaces posed a bigger struggle, as few dorms have entrance ramps or inside access to higher floors.  Most academic buildings as well as the Hess Center for the Arts and the Athletic Center have at least one elevator which makes it easier to move between floors, with the exception of the Arms and Kendall Buildings. Additionally, the only dorms with elevators are Simmons and O’Byrne Curtis.  Chief Financial Officer Matthew Sheehy recognized the Academy’s accessibility issues, saying, “When we look to renovate a dorm, which is rather an extensive project, we have to look at what we would do for students that regularly use that space.” According to Mr. Sheehy, although the newer dorms have been built with accessibility in mind, the older ones still must work to improve in the area. Other buildings are also being renovated with accessibility in mind. “One project that I’m sure you’ve heard of is regarding the new Dining Hall, and one question that we work with when thinking about the new iteration is what accessibility looks like in terms of the old design,” said Mr. Sheehy. He also expressed the significance of thinking about how people interact with buildings and what the building is offering them. A lot of the time, this means conserving the look and structure of Historic Deerfield, which plays a role in thinking about renovations and additions to buildings.  In a classroom setting, when students are injured, many teachers will choose to move to a different classroom for accessibility, especially when the original class room was in the Arms. Associate Director of Admission Genevieve Pitt describes the  Historic Deerfield preservation. “I think they have done a good job with the new buildings, like the Hess and Athletic Center, but I think the Historic Core is a little more difficult,” said Ms. Pitt. The Admissions Office considers accessibility mainly when thinking about tours, as they work to ensure mobility does not deter potential students. They therefore need to pay attention to making sure that their visitors’ experiences aren’t compromised by accessibility.  This initiative has also been taken up by students. Gloria Chun ’23, a leader of the Deerfield Academy Disability Alliance (DADA), has worked to create a more accessible campus. Chun explained, “As a Head Tour Guide, I see students with limited accessibility which really hindered them from touring campus.” Chun was thus inspired to find alternate routes around campus to make tours more accessible. Chun states that accessibility has also been a topic of discussion in DADA, “As students, our top priority is to raise awareness and make the topic more proactive with faculty, to further progress accessibility.”  From Admissions to the student body, campus accessibility plays a significant role in ensuring Deerfield provides an inclusive and holistic experience for all.

Deerfield students often engage in pursuits outside the classroom, whether it be testing their physical limits in sports or exercising their creative minds through arts. However, many Deerfield faculty members also find ways to extend themselves beyond the Valley by partaking in further education opportunities, pursuing writing, and even creating podcasts. Dean of Residential Life and History & Social Science Teacher Rebecca Melvoin shared that she is currently on track to complete her Doctor of Education degree (EdD) through virtual University of Southern California classes by May. When asked for her motivation in pursuing this voluntary rigor, she explained she “was interested in learning more about school leadership.” While unsure of where the degree will take her, she hopes to later publish her dissertation — a comparative case study looking at the ways that boarding schools in the Northeast support gender expansive students with a specific emphasis on their residential experiences — as a shorter article.­ In terms of how her outside work has  impacted her teaching life, Ms. Melvoin said, “Being a student again made me more empathetic as a teacher.” She explained, “Knowing that I rarely looked forward to completing discussion board posts, I limited some of the tasks I originally planned for my students.” Additionally, Ms. Melvoin remarked on the support of the Deerfield community, saying, “Colleagues frequently check in with me to ask about coursework or the writing process.” She continued, “Dr. Austin has allowed me to interview him for a paper I wrote; I’m grateful to so many people, including my students, who have cheered me on during this process.” History & Social Science Teacher Mary Ellen Friends also engaged in further education, receiving her Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Literatures from Yale University in May 2019. Her research focused on Classical Chinese Womens poetry about the Double Seventh Festival, the Heavenly Weaver Girl, and the relationship between weaving, womens writing, and shifting gender expectations in Late Imperial China. Dr. Friends noted that her dissertation titled, “Love, Gender, and Reader Reception in Double Seventh Literature,” is available online for anyone to read and critique. Before coming to Deerfield, Dr. Friends had completed many of the requirements for her Ph.D., having already finished her coursework and even defended her prospectus. She said, “All I needed to do was re-teach myself how to read classical Chinese, do a bunch of research, write a 300-page paper, and get a thumbs up from each of my committee members!”  Finding it challenging to balance a full-time job with family obligations, Dr. Friends shared that she completed this project over five summers in the comfort of her “beautiful classroom on the 3rd floor of the MSB [with] air conditioning.” Working on her project for 30 to 40 hours per week for 12 of her 14 weeks of summer, she said, “I don’t own a cell phone, so I was able to fully engage with the project for several hours at a time.”  Additionally, Dr. Friends noted, “The project helped me improve my teaching of research and writing; it made me appreciate our incredible library staff more than ever, and it made me more empathetic to students who are undertaking research.” She also noted that her research imbued a sense of confidence in Deerfield’s preparation of students for higher-level study and writing projects while also making her a more patient person.  Dr. Friends echoed Ms. Melvoin’s comments regarding how conducive Deerfield’s environment and community are to outside goals. She said, “[Deerfield], in general, is quite supportive of continuing education, and the Dean of the Faculty’s office encourages faculty to pursue all sorts of professional development opportunities, including summer courses and workshops, in-house institutes and team projects.”  The school also supports and funds professional development sessions. Dr. Friends noted, “The school sends a very strong and positive message that it places high value on teachers who are passionate about their fields and who ‘walk the walk’ in terms of being lifelong learners.” Through her own pursuits, she hopes that students see that “research is energizing, not draining, and that writing is not about a grade or a gold star.” She said, “It’s about the joy of communicating to others — at whatever level of articulation you can manage — all the cool stuff you’re learning along the way.” English Teacher Melissa Dickey shared accounts from her experience as a published poet. Passionate about writing from a young age, Ms. Dickey attended the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts in high school, the University of Texas, and the University of Iowa’s Writers’ Workshop residency program, where she received her Master of Fine Arts degree. Additionally, Ms. Dickey met fellow Deerfield English Teacher and future husband Andy Stallings in a poetry workshop in college, and they are both now practicing poets.  In terms of finding time to write at Deerfield, Ms. Dickey explained that she only teaches two to three classes per term, which is less than the teaching course load. She said, “I think that’s why I can dedicate more time to writing because I also have kids, so there are so many things to balance.” She continued, “One thing that’s nice about being an English teacher is that we have a lot of freedom in what we teach, so I can choose books that I want to read for myself, or we can study poets that I want to study for myself, so in some ways, the teaching and the writing can go together.” Regarding her writing process, Ms. Dickey explained, “I write my notes by hand and then try to put them together.” She continued, “I always have this working notebook, and then I’ll go back through notebooks and find sentences I like or things I noticed, such as an image or detail. I use writing and poetry especially to try to weave together different things I’m thinking about, whether external things in life, this moment in culture, family stuff, or relationships.” Ms. Dickey plans to publish her third book of poetry in the fall of 2023 and hopes to host an event in one of Deerfield’s art galleries to let students hear about her work.  For History & Social Science Department Chair Brian Hamilton, his outside pursuits involve hosting an environmental studies podcast he created five years ago. In his podcast episodes, Mr. Hamilton chats with authors of new nonfiction books to help others understand the interconnectedness of social, political, and environmental struggles.  Mr. Hamilton discussed his own learning resulting from hosting the podcast, saying, “Every author blows my mind at least once!” He explained, “In our attention economy, even books by brilliant scholars can fail to get their ideas into circulation. I’m proud to do a little bit to help with that. And it keeps me current with the latest scholarship, which makes me a better teacher.”  He recorded one of these interviews live in his Environmental Justice class, and Science Teacher Rich Calhoun invited one of Mr. Hamilton’s podcast guests to speak in his class come springtime. His next two episodes will be with Malcolm Harris about his book Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World and the other with Virginia Tech Professor Anna Zeide about her U.S. History in 15 Foods .  Mr. Calhoun is also involved in environmental work on and off campus. One of his close friends, Mike Bensen, ’96, recently started a small farm in Maine. Mr. Calhoun shared a few of his students’ theoretical farm ideas with Mr. Bensen a few years ago and has since involved his students in data interpretation and research for Mr. Bensen’s farm. Mr. Calhoun said, “Students have created a wide range of project ideas for crops, cultivation ideas, and concepts to generate revenue on the farm.” He continued, “Ideas range from potatoes, bee hives, garlic, solar panels, greenhouses, apple orchards, cross-country ski trails, a small concert venue, a fish waste composting facility, and an organic vegetable co-op for local markets.” Of these proposals, Mr. Bensen has made a few decisions based on DA student projects, including a blight-resistant chestnut orchard planting project, a forest-based shitake mushroom operation, and a successful lettuce program. In terms of applications of his course to the work of Mr. Bensen, Mr. Calhoun shared that his Environmental Science class spends time learning about various agricultural practices and their impacts on local and global systems. He said, “We tour a medium-sized dairy and veggie farm in Deerfield, and then students can apply their understanding of practices and economics to create viable projects for a small New England farm.” He explained, “It allows students to be creative while demonstrating their understanding of agricultural principles.” These Deerfield teachers, along with many of their fellow faculty members, are committed to a variety of unique endeavors, proving they take their responsibility to heart as role models of, in the words of Dr. Friends, “lifelong learners.”

When the Deerfield Model United Nations (MUN) team arrived at Yale MUN to compete, a familar face greeted them. Mark Chung ’21, former Co-President of Deerfield’s MUN (and the Scroll’s Op-Ed Editor), was the chair of a committee featuring current Deerfield students.  Throughout the winter term, various members of Deerfield’s MUN team have traveled around New England to compete at the Harvard (January 26-29), Yale (January 19-22), and Boston University (February 10-12) Model UN conferences.  At these events, students take part in specific UN committees and are assigned a country to act as a delegate for. After researching the history and perspectives of their respective countries, students have the opportunity to hone their skills in diplomacy, compromise, and teamwork during the tasks assigned to them during the conferences. Success is determined not by a student’s assigned country’s strength, however, but rather a student’s display of public speaking, writing, and teamwork skills.  In addition to scenarios based upon real-life current events, MUN conferences sometimes incorporate non-existent worlds, such as an Avatar: the Last Airbender themed committee at the Boston University conference. Regardless of the context, the goals of such committees are to draft resolutions to solve relevant problems in whatever universe that may be. In a scenario more based on our reality, protection of cultural heritage sites would be a committee’s goal if assigned to UNESCO, for example. On top of drafting resolutions, there are other goals of Model UN conferences. For example, Zach Li ’25 was assigned to Norway at BU to draft a UN charter in a scenario set in 1945.  To do so, Li said he “focused on an economic standpoint” and “created a three-pronged approach to divide wealth equally.” However, goals at these conferences sometimes go unachieved. In Li’s case, his plan fell through due to collaboration challenges among his group. “We weren’t able to come up with the UN charter as the voting was not clear,” he explained. John Liu ’26, who competed at the Harvard MUN conference, or “HMUN,” represented Italy in the Eastern European Security Committee focusing on the War in Ukraine. Liu summarized his committee’s final resolutions, sharing,  “We decided to stop having sanctions on Russia because they only hurt common Europeans.” Other discussion on the committee focused on “providing food and aid to Ukraine and opening new trade routes.” While away for these weekend conferences, MUN students had opportunities to explore the college’s surrounding city. Most nights, the groups dined together, with the Harvard team enjoying hotpot and other Asian cuisine during their time in Cambridge. During COVID-19, conferences typically hosted by colleges were held online, a compromise which was less than ideal for some students. For example, Svetlana Deshpande ’25 said, “you couldn’t meet any people and you just didn’t get the full experience,” referring to the Zoom conferences. She added, “It was really hard to navigate, you had to private message to talk and it was hard to form blocs (countries who agree on a topic).” Thus, the return to in-person conferences this year was widely celebrated. At the Yale MUN, the Deerfield’s delegation of eight students won three awards. Rich Zhou ’26 was the honorable mention in the Commission on Sustainable Development, Lila King ’24 was the outstanding delegate in the Commission on the Status of Women, and Chelsea Antero ’23 was the best delegate in the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. All three represented Germany, and it was the first in-person MUN conference for Zhou and King. Co-President Antero said, “I had a lot of fun leading a team of smart individuals committed to solving the issues of the world.” Following three successful trips to Harvard, Yale, and BU, Deerfield MUN is excited to travel to Dartmouth MUN this April to round out their year of competition.

Students may have noticed the seemingly mysterious tutor consistently stationed in a third floor library study room. His name is Andy Hilnbrand, and he is an outside resource for Deerfield students who may need extra help with math, science, computer science, and economics classes. Self employed, Hilnbrand currently works with 20 students at Deerfield and has been doing so for about seven years.  His contribution at Deerfield, however, does little to capture his lifelong devotion to STEM education. Mr. Hilnbrand was a classroom teacher and the math and science head at Pioneer Valley Performing Arts School. He tutored on the side before switching to tutoring full time. In college, he was a pure mathematics major at an engineering school. Later on, he got a full master’s degree in secondary math education.  Mr. Hilnbrand mentioned that he had “always wanted to be a teacher,” and continued to pursue his passion to be a math teacher at a performing arts high school. At the time he started his job at Deerfield, his role was brand new with no established department. He said that it was a difficult adjustment at first and that he had to “learn the hard way,” but nonetheless loved his time here. He found the moments where he was able to watch his math students perform outside of class the most special and said, “it opened up my eyes when I saw someone in class who was struggling at math, and then I could watch her dance and see her strengths that gave me an ‘in’ [on teaching] like ‘oh, wow,’ everyone has their gifts.” He points to this changed perspective as reasoning for making an effort to tie students’ interests into math in a way that captures their attention. Assistant Academic Dean, Study Skills Coordinator, and Math Teacher Sheryl Koyama said, at Deerfield Academy “we have a whole menu of resources for our students.” She described the different academic resources as “layers” for students, each one fulfilling different yet equally significant needs. The first being Deerfield’s teachers, Ms. Koyama stressed the importance of communication between students and teachers.  The next “layer” of resources for students is the Peer Tutor program. Peer Tutors are stationed during school nights in the Village’s Crowe Common Room and the library. However, Ms. Koyama acknowledged the occasional need for a student to receive more personalized, one-on-one help, which is the main reason why Mr. Hilnbrand is such a valuable resource on campus. Ms. Koyama described one of Mr. Hilnbrand’s strengths as a tutor on campus to be that he is very aware of the Academy’s expectations for academic integrity.  In addition to Mr. Hilnbrand and the Peer Tutors, there are also other options for students in need of educational help. One resource free of cost is Testing Proctor & ELC Substitute Teacher Amanda Howe. Her connection with Deerfield proves valuable because she had three kids attend Deerfield Academy. Mrs. Howe focuses on time management and study skills, also called executive function skills. She is also strong in humanities, and is open to helping any students who reach out to her. Students may reach out by emailing ahowe@deerfield.edu.  Deerfield Academy offers a plethora of resources for its students. When looking for extra help in the STEM classes from an outside tutor such as Mr. Hilnbrand, students can receive financial aid through contacting Mrs. Koyama, or just connect with him directly through his email or website. Although on-campus resources such as Peer Tutors can be useful, outside help is also readily available.

On Wednesday, February 1, the last walkthrough dinner before Long Winter Weekend, students were greeted by the cotton candy and balloons characteristic of the annual Carnival Night, a long established tradition. According to Director of Food Service Michael McCarthy, the event has happened every year of his more than twenty years at Deerfield. This year, most of the food was prepared by the Dining Hall staff, and a company called Total Entertainment provided the inflatable attractions, the cotton candy machine, and some pre-packaged foods.  Carnival Night with its whimsical theme and sugar-loaded food options makes it a hit event for faculty children. Brooksy McVaugh, age two, said, “I liked the French fries AND the fried dough.” Many of the smaller details of the event that high-school students might neglect or dislike create a special experience for younger community members. Liam McVaugh, age four, said, “I liked the balloons! And I didn’t like that we didn’t get to try the bouncy house… that was my least favorite part.” Ashley LaBrucherie ’23, however, was critical of carnival night. Pointing to the “excessive” amount of food, bottles, and plastic inflatables, she said, “I felt that this is what American consumerism has become—the boundless use of commodities for very insignificant occasions.” The food, however, sparked mixed opinions among students. Adaugo Nwaokoro ’24 said that though she appreciated the candy, the food “didn’t seem like an actual meal.” On the other hand, James Kurto ’25 said that he “liked the sausage dogs.” In fact, Mr. McCarthy said that students “ate more of [the corn dogs] in the past two years than ever.” Regarding the future of the carnival, Brandon Smith ’26 said that he would appreciate if the carnival was separate from that night’s dinner. Max Wang ’25 added that he would like to see the carnival in either the fall or spring, for a Sunday brunch. After the events, the Dining Hall staff cleaned up as usual, and the only remnants of Carnival Night were a few lingering balloons along the ceiling. When asked about future plans for the event, Mr. McCarthy said he has yet to make plans to change Carnival Night. “I think it’s a good menu,” he says. “I don’t have any plans for change, but I’m open to suggestions.”

The Israel-Palestine conflict can be traced to 1922 during the British mandate over Ottoman territories under the League of Nations. Zionism and World War II motivated European Jews to move to Palestine to escape anti-Semitism and establish a Jewish nation. In 1947, the United Nations adopted Resolution 181, a partition plan that divided Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states and established a Special International Regime for Jerusalem.  On May 14, 1948, Israel declared independence, precipitating the first Arab-Israeli War. Following the war, the disputed territory was divided into the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the state of Israel. In 1987, the Six Day War broke out between Israel and its Arab neighbors. The Intifadas of 1987 and 2000 featured mass agitation and protests against one Israeli.  The Madrid Conference in 1991, co-sponsored by the Soviet Union and the United States, was the first opportunity for peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. The Oslo Accords of 1993 and 1995 temporarily mediated conflict, establishing a framework for Palestinians’ self-governance in the West Bank and Gaza and recognizing both the Israeli government and the newly instituted Palestinian Authority. Though peace talks have been taking place for over 25 years, none have resolved the conflict. Proposed solutions to the Israel-Palestine conflict have included the two-state solution and the one-state solution. The two-state solution, which has gained significant international support, consists of establishing an Israeli state with pre-1967 borders, and a Palestinian state, including most of the West Bank and Gaza. However, there has been no discussion of how the two-state solution would account for Palestinians within the pre-1967 Israeli borders and Jewish Israelis beyond those borders. Reaffirming U.S support for the two-state solution, the Biden administration has promoted the normalization of Israeli–Arab relations and resumed humanitarian aid for Palestinians.   Having grown up in Lebanon and Egypt, English Teacher Monica Matouk emphasized the important role education could play in the future of the Middle East saying, “This is such a rich and complex part of the world, and it is often misrepresented and misunderstood here in the West. For many, its complexity is understandably frustrating, and being ‘for’ one side and ‘against’ the other can feel like a tempting way to make sense of it. But of course that’s a shortcut, as well as a dead end. This reductive thinking is not the same thing as extremism, but the net effect can be similar: people push themselves into corners that distort, flatten out, demonize and dehumanize the other. The further apart we grow, and the more polarized we become, the less able we are to understand one another and find common ground.”  Ms. Matouk, highlighting her appreciation for Deerfield’s Arabic Program, added, “We urgently need to break out of the binary thinking so much of the discourse is trapped in today, and develop the creativity, intellectual mettle and courage to try to forge new solutions.” Bibliography: Council on Foreign Relations. Accessed February 6, 2023. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-us-policy-israeli-palestinian-conflict. “Israeli-Palestine Conflict.” Global Conflict Tracker. Accessed February 6, 2023. https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/israeli-palestinian-conflict. “The Question of Palestine.” United Nations. Accessed February 6, 2023. https://www.un.org/unispal/history/.

Taking a glance around campus, one may notice groups of eager students helping out at Shipping and Receiving or armed with gloves and snow shovels before the crack of dawn. This resurgence of leadership among students can be attributed to the reintroduction of the Deerfield Academy Perspectives Program (DAPP).  Deerfield celebrates a rich history of finding ways for students to give back to the community. According to Deerfield 1797-1997: A Pictorial History of the Academy by Andrea and Robert Moorhead, students often helped with tasks like building athletic facilities, and, until 1950, participated in a school-wide potato harvest every fall. DAPP, according to Science Teacher and former Dean of Students Toby Emerson, has a more recent history. The initiative was a part of the 2009 Green and White Program, in conjunction with then-Head of School Margarita Curtis’ visionary “Imagine Deerfield” campaign, to create a mandatory work program for sophomores to contribute directly to the community. It was generally well-regarded and was incentivized by allowing students to wear a DAPP T-shirt to school instead of class dress. However, due to the pandemic-triggered switch from seven daily class periods to two in 2020-2021 and three in the current schedule, Mr. Emerson said that it became “almost impossible to schedule [slots for tenth graders]…since they just do not have free periods.”  This winter, however, the program came back as a volunteer-based opportunity open to all grade levels. Over 100 people signed up to participate after hearing about the newly reinstituted DAPP. Many volunteers feel fulfilled to see Deerfield from a slightly different vantage point. Mac Wang ’25, who works in both Special Projects and Admissions, said he uses DAPP as a way to appreciate “how the Physical Plant and all the staff around campus contribute to the community.” Additionally, Alice Wu ’25, who works in Admissions, said that along with the kind admissions officers, “I feel like I’m giving back to the community.”  Reflecting on what DAPP has become since its initial introduction, Mr. Emerson said, “When [work is encouraged as] volunteering, I think it’s a little more meaningful.”

On January 7, five police officers pulled over Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, for reckless driving. Bodycams showed that the police then beat him to the ground and physically assaulted him. Police reports claim that Nichols was behaving “violently” and tried to resist officers. However, video evidence published by the New York Times shows that Nichols did not try to hit any of the officers. An ambulance arrived between 15 to 20 minutes after the officers stopped assaulting Nichols. He died three days later in the hospital.  This incident follows many other instances of police brutality across the country in recent years. Black members of the Deerfield community expressed their thoughts on Tyre Nichols’ death and how to help prepare Black students for any possible incidents on or off campus.  Faculty Advisor for the Deerfield Black Student Alliance (DBSA) James Perry expressed that his initial reaction to Nichols’ death was fear that this could happen to him too. He added, “More importantly, as a father, could that happen to one of my sons? As a teacher of young Black men, could that happen to one of my students?” He concluded, “The answer is obviously ‘yes,’ given not only this incident but also all of the many other instances that have happened over the past five or six years.” Chelsea Davis ’23, a DBSA member, shared that she had seen a post on social media questioning how the incident could have been racially biased since the police officers were also Black. Comments on the post discussed the inherently racist nature of America’s policing system. Davis agreed, saying, “The training the cops went through to choose who to arrest or why to arrest them, and the training that they go through on how to handle that person, is all very racist.” Another member of the DBSA, Jesse Gachago ’26, said in response to Nichols’ death, “Violence like that is never necessary, especially whenever you’re getting pulled over by policemen for reckless driving.” Mr. Perry echoed Gachago’s sentiments, saying, “[The officers] used way more force than was necessary to accomplish the task.” He continued, “The task was to subdue him, and once he was down on the ground, the kicking to the face, repeatedly hitting with the baton, and tasing, by definition, was excessive.” In terms of the response on campus to news of this event, DBSA Treasurer Ephraim Tony Tutu ’24 said, “[Deerfield’s] atmosphere is relatively equal and safe, so because of that, I think Black men [at Deerfield] have a misconception that maybe this is how the world works, and when you have that misconception, a simple stop, like what happened to Tyre, could lead to something else.” Mr. Perry explained the importance of understanding racism, saying, “As a person of color, you may be stopped by the police, and opinions may be formed about you solely because of your race.” He stressed that necessity to talk about how Black students should respond to a variety of situations, such as driving, walking around, even “if it’s somehow in a classroom situation where you feel that race has become an inappropriate or misrepresented  factor, in the discussion.”  Regarding how Deerfield’s campus should respond, Gachago said, “One thing I suggest is advocate for people of color, [and] be more aware of situations that are going on like this.” He suggested that having conversations about these situations will “help us not make the same mistakes [as] in the past.”

On January 27, 2023, Dean of Students Samuel Bicknell sent out a school-wide email, on behalf of the Student Life Office, with the subject line “Supporting healthy decisions.” It echoed emails from previous years regarding healthy decision-making in the winter.  The email acknowledged the challenging nature of Winter Term, with fewer hours of daylight and colder temperatures adding to students’ busy schedules and large course load. Winter Term has historically marked “an uptick in substance abuse,” according to Mr. Bicknell, with such decisions often leading to an increase in disciplinary cases around January and February. In his email, Mr. Bicknell informed students that they would “likely see a heightened Student Life presence in the dorms after curfew in the coming weeks,” stressing that the notice was intended to express transparency and clarity, not catch people in compromising situations.  He referenced a proactive, as opposed to reactive, approach in helping students avoid bad decisions.  Mr. Bicknell also noted, “Students making healthy decisions can be put into an uncomfortable situation by the actions of other peers. The potential presence of an adult could give people an ‘out’ for students who don’t wish to participate in such activity.”  Referring to the SLO’s increased presence in dorms, Preyas Sinha ’24, a member of the Disciplinary Committee, said, “I am not sure how much it’ll decrease substance use because the people who use them are not planning on getting caught anyways.” To enhance campus regualtions, a few years ago, the Academy brought in Arizona State University researcher Suniya Luther to conduct a campus climate study that Assistant Head for Student Life Amie Creagh described, in an interview, as “similar to [the] Thrive [Survey] but more comprehensive.” Ms. Creagh recalled that Deerfield students’ responses regarding stress, workload, connectedness to adults, sleep, and substance use were consistent with results from other high achieving schools evaluated by Luther’s organization, Authentic Connections. During this time of year, the SLO addresses substance use in a variety of ways in addition to being more present in dorms, including the Be Worthy program, inviting outside speakers, reinforcing advisor-to-advisee conversations and relationships, and the peer counseling program. The Be Worthy program was established to “have the upperclassmen be role models for the underclassmen,” according to Be Worthy Program coordinator and Student Life Associate Kevin Kelly. He explained that the program introduces pairings through sit-down table rotations because it is a “neutral and natural setting for a casual meal that helps establish or reinforce existing relationships with pairings,” he said.  The SLO also invited Tony Hoffman to a January school meeting to reiterate the importance of making healthy decisions. Ms. Creagh described the idea as: “Tell them what you told them, tell them, then tell them again.” She explained that the approach to lessening substance abuse on campus “has to be a multi-prong approach because it is not as effective if it is always Mr. Bicknell at the podium.” In a boarding school environment where Deerfield assumes responsibility for students, the SLO emphasizes that their actions are preventative measures that take a proactive approach. Ms. Creagh said, “The data suggests that 100% of students that were involved in reactive approaches would have preferred a proactive approach,” arguing that measures such as SLO presence in dorms are preferable to having to undergo the disciplinary process.

This winter, students in every Deerfield English class not only wrestled with Life on Mars , a poetry collection by decorated poet Tracy K. Smith, but also had the opportunity to see Ms. Smith’s work through her own eyes.  From January 22 to 24,  Ms. Smith visited Deerfield for three days for a poetry reading, a book signing, a Q&A session, and several workshops.  English Department Chair Anna Steim said, “There were moments in my classes when it felt like we were honing in on what [Ms. Smith] was up to and what she’s thinking about, but we’ll never know what the author was thinking or what they were trying to do in that particular moment.” She continued, “What’s amazing about having somebody visit is that they get to pull back and share that.” Visits from poets like Ms. Smith are neither unusual nor unprecedented at Deerfield. Every year, the English Department discusses authors to possibly invite. According to Ms. Steim, over the ten years she has been at Deerfield, most of these guests have been poets. She said, “We feel strongly that poetry is something we’re able to expose ourselves to, and we’re excited to do that.”  In August 2022, former English Department Chair Christian Austin signed a contract for Ms. Smith’s visit. The booking process was similar to how the school invited playwrite Quiara Alegría Hudes, known for Water by the Spoonful and In the Heights , to campus last year.  Nonetheless, Ms. Smith’s visit stands out from those conducted in the past due to the multiple writing workshops offered during her time on campus. Ms. Steim said, “In previous years, we’ve had visiting writers do a full school reading, a book signing, then maybe a Q&A if it’s possible, but this year, we actually had a much more robust program than that.” She continued, “Students in every class of English [were] able to go to a workshop with Tracy Smith for her to shed light both on her own poetry that she’s written but also on what it’s like to be a poet and how students can think about doing that work themselves.” Thomas Lu ’23 reflected on the workshop with Ms. Smith and said, “She has the same outlook as us, but presents it in a way that that opened my mind.” As a Pulitzer Prize winner, former United States Poet Laureate, and Harvard professor, Ms. Smith embodies writing multilaterally. In an exclusive interview with the Scroll , “I write because it helps me think,” she said. She added, “I think more fully, more courageously, slowly, and intentionally, which helps me make sense of life and the world that I’m aware I participate in but don’t always feel safe in.”  Ms. Smith’s work, including pieces she shared during her poetry reading, explores citizenship, nationhood, and American voices she believes history needs to learn more from.  Asked about a potential world of poetry generated by artificial intelligence, Ms. Smith said, “I believe literature is something bigger than those things.” She explained, “I want to do the work of wrestling with human failure, human wish, and the shortcomings that need to be claimed and worked through that other humans are bringing to the page.”

On January 17, 2023, a major storm hit California, marking the end of a three-week period in which nine severe storms netted a total of 20 to 30 inches of rain in some areas of the state and 10 to 15 feet of snow in the Sierra Nevadas. The storms caused flooding, fallen trees, and landslides that, according to the Los Angeles Times , claimed the lives of 22 Californians. These storms have a name: atmospheric rivers. Environmental Science Teacher Rich Calhoun explained, “Around the equator you have a build-up of super hot, super wet air and it needs to drain, which it will do through these events called atmospheric rivers.”  While California has historically experienced atmospheric rivers, and even relies on them for its water supply, this year’s storms are unusually severe. Mr. Calhoun said that because of global warming, “there is more energy at the equator, [which means that] atmospheric river events are occurring with greater intensity, moisture content, and duration.” Additionally, atmospheric rivers are not predicted to mitigate the drought that has afflicted California in recent years. According to an article published in January by the Washington Post , rainfall alone cannot remedy severe drought. California relies on a replenished snowpack — the snow that falls in the Sierra Nevadas and surrounding mountains — for runoff to sustain the state’s water needs all year. However, warmer springs and summers have caused the snowpack to melt more quickly. Also, when large storms occur in short succession, collection methods like reservoirs are unable to hold excess water and flooding occurs. In short, these storms have exposed weaknesses in California’s water retention infrastructure that must be addressed as storms become more severe.  “How will California adapt to more water all at once?” Mr. Calhoun asked. “We have to think about how that new hydrological system will work.” Even though California is over 3,000 miles from Deerfield, Mr. Calhoun believes that students should pay attention to changing weather conditions nationally and globally. He said, “It’s important that we don’t get lost in our little bubble here in Western Massachusetts. We need to connect the work that we’re doing with not just our local communities but communities all across the country.”  Climate change has caused a series of extreme weather events across the world within 2023: a heat wave resulting in 150 wildfires burning across Chile, flooding in New Zealand that is now considered the most significant climate event in the nation’s history, and even a record-setting windchill on Mt. Washington in New Hampshire as Arctic air temporarily moved over New England. In the coming years, more and more Deerfield students are likely to see change within their own home states and countries.

The white boys sitting in rows of chairs in the 1933 and 1964 Scroll Board photographs above, clad in suits and flat stares, could likely never in their wildest dreams imagine that a future Scroll Board would one day look anything like ours. Twelve out of the thirteen Scroll XCVII board members are female-identifying, while eleven, including our sole male-identifying member, are Asian. Deerfield, along with the majority of the Western world, has not historically been a place for girls or people of color. For instance, the Academy only returned to being a coeducational institution in 1989 after nearly all of its peer schools had already made the change. And, with a long-standing majority-white student and faculty population, Deerfield’s culture, beauty standards, and family legacies tend to exclude — whether purposefully or not — students of color.  Thus, it may seem like a good sign that our board is mostly Asian. But a closer glance reveals that we still lack diversity—our leadership fails to accurately reflect student demographics. We lack Latinx, Black, and Indigenous voices. Our staff writers as a whole also tend to fall short when it comes to diversity.  What impact does this lack of diversity have on the Scroll ’s reporting? Though we would like to claim that our brainstorming and writing processes function without biases, most readers know that achieving such a level of objectivity is impossible. Instead, our writers often bring article ideas from their daily experiences as a Deerfield student, which are often influenced by key markers of identity, such as race. When it comes to our board, our races, genders, and personal backgrounds also inform our opinions and perspectives on the world, which turn into our Board Editorials (like the one you are reading currently) and Letters from the Editor.  How do we remedy the Scroll ’s lack of diversity then? Addressing this question brings up countless others. Are there cultural forces causing mostly Asian students to join the Scroll ? How do students perceive the Scroll on campus in general? The list goes on.  Though we are proud of how far the Scroll has come since its earliest decades, diversifying the publication will likely be a never-ending project that we will continue to pursue.