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This year, students and faculty were found with not only salads but also sandwiches from the deli bar during sit-down meals. Situated in the basement, beside the salad bar, the deli bar provides all the ingredients for the perfect sandwich: bread, sliced ham, turkey, roast beef, different cheeses, and a variety of spreads and sauces such as cranberry, mayo, Chick-fil-A sauce, and the Greer sauce. This summer, Director of Food Services Micheal McCarthy and his staff provided a deli bar to faculty, their families, and children from the summer camps held on campus to test its popularity. The results were successful and the deli bar received many compliments, so they decided to make it official for the school year. In an interview, Mr. McCarthy said, “By the third sit down back at school, people definitely [knew about the Deli Bar], because they were all over it.” He also mentioned that the Dining Hall provided about 180 to 200 sandwiches every day, proving its popularity.  The idea of a deli bar came from students in the Food Committee. They meet every Tuesday during sit-down lunch to make suggestions for the food served by the Dining Hall. Johnnie Moriarty ’23, a member of the Food Committee said, “I always liked subway sandwiches and cold cuts in general so I proposed that a deli bar should be added in addition to the salad bar, for those who maybe didn’t want a salad but wanted an alternate option from the regular meal.” Many students liked how the deli bar provided a more substantial meal option compared to the salad bar. When asked about the difference between them, Gabe Swisher-Rosa ’23 said, “the deli bar provides more substantial meat options for students who want a good source of protein.” Svetlana Deshpande ’25 gave her opinion on why the deli bar has become so popular: “last year, I was always conflicted because I was never satisfied with a salad. It’s so much more satisfying to eat a sandwich.” Instead of choosing just a salad or just a sandwich, a few people combined the two together. Art teacher Mr. Angel Abreu ’92 went to the deli bar for slices of meat to add to his salad. The combination of the two makes for a more filling salad for some people.  Many students agreed with this trend. Mikayla Meertins ’26 said, “I think [the deli bar] is a good alternative for picky eaters and people who don’t like the actual meals.”  Despite its success, the deli bar posed challenges for the Dining Hall staff. Many ingredients were either low in stock or unable to be shipped from a supplier. One reason there was a low supply of ingredients are due to the bird flu. Many birds were killed to stop the spreading of the recent bird flu, so the market doesn’t have many mature birds. Mr. McCarthy saw this effect in the depleting supply of turkey. “We had a hard time getting turkey products,” he explained, “a shift in the supply chain was always an issue before COVID-19, but it’s definitely more of an issue now.”  The ingredients included in the deli bar are subject to change in the future depending on availability and price fluctuation. Nevertheless, the Deli Bar seems to be a popular addition to meals. At the end of the interview, Mr. McCarthy mentioned that the Dining Hall staff are always open to feedback and added, “feel free to shoot me an email. We’re always looking for ideas.”

This school year, the longstanding tradition of Deerfield “feeds” has undergone a change in terminology with post study hall food now known as “snacks.” The transition in wording is intended to foster a more voluntary and less pressured tone around “snacks.” The Student Life Office and the Nutrition Department worked to find a word that was more flexible and inviting with the intention to steer away from language that sounded forceful or harsh. Although “feeds” are a large part of dorm rituals at Deerfield, Counselor Sarah Rosenthal acknowledged that “words matter” and the language “didn’t quite feel in line with a normalized relationship with food,” he said. The word “snack” seemed to provide room for flexibility in regards to amount and participation, because as Ms. Rosenthal said, “We all snack. It just feels like there is more fluidity to having a small snack.” With the use of the word “feed,” Ms. Rosenthal said, “Sometimes people felt compelled to have large quantities of food, and that didn’t always feel comfortable for some folks.” The proctors were informed of this adjustment by Dean of Residential Life Becca Melvoin during proctor orientation at Camp Greylock because proctors often hold the responsibility of serving as examples for underclassmen. Elle Stearns ’23, a freshman proctor in Johnson said, “Ms. Melvoin explained that the switch is important to ensure that students feel less pressure around eating at such a late time of day.” She got the impression that “the administration wanted to become more aware of eating disorders and how ‘snacks’/‘feeds’ affect people.” Ms. Melvoin said that the word “snack” implies a friendly communal experience, whereas the word “feed” evokes the image of “animals feeding in a trough.” Some students still catch themselves reverting back to past terminology out of habit. Natasha Steinert ’23, a sophomore proctor in Mather, said, “I find myself saying feed because I’m used to it from my previous three years.” However, she emphasized, “If this is able to help the community by making snacks seem more flexible, optional, or casual, then I think this is a good thing.”  Other students also support this change, such as Alex Hermsdorf ’25. As a new sophomore, her impression of snacks has been “a friendly time where everyone can just come enjoy a snack with everyone together,” she said. Hermsdorf added, “Feed sounds harsher [while] snack sounds more open and friendly.” While proctors and hall residents have passed the news onto students, Deerfield has not publicly recognized the shift in terminology and the reasoning, resulting in differing opinions and ideas for why this could have possibly taken place. Deerfield feeds have been rooted in dorm tradition and for many students, are a key part of the Deerfield dorm experience.  Lucas Zheng ’23, a sophomore proctor in Scaife said, “It’s not really affecting the way I’m choosing ‘snacks’ since I already have that conception of what it should be as a proctor.” Zheng added, “I  guess it might be more of a way to put less of an expectation that a feed needs to be a meal and it’s not really that helpful. At this point in time it’s just a change in what it’s called and nothing else.” Thomas Harrick ’23, a four-year senior, echoed Zheng’s uncertainty about implementing this change: “It’s a snack inherently but it’s like renaming the Evensong to the ‘Deerfield Anthem.’ Feeds are a part of Deerfield tradition. [The wording] doesn’t matter that much and I don’t know if it’s worth putting in the effort to change it,” he said. With a lack of communication about the reasoning behind the shift, some students felt indifferent about the change or expressed annoyance around changing a Deerfield tradition. Izzy Ramirez ’25 expressed her confusion, saying that, “I think it’s a change that seems important but at the same time if it was such a bad word to use and affected the community in such a way that we needed change, they should have explained the [reasoning] to us.”Adjusting the wording from “feed” to “snack” is one of the steps Deerfield is taking in an attempt to create a more fluid attitude around food and eating on campus. Ms. Rosenthal said, “There can be lots of different kinds of things that you might have as a snack. There is more room for diversity in the foods provided with different people needing different snacks.”

After completing Simmons dormitory over the summer, Deerfield’s administration is shifting its focus to the next big project: a new dining hall. This facility will seat the entire student body for sit-down meals, increase disability accessibility, allow for more fluid meal preparation and walk-through dinner lines, and feature enhanced acoustics. Ideally, construction would start in the summer of 2023, but there are a few obstacles along the path to a finished product.  According to Chief Financial Officer Matthew Sheehy, global supply chain issues create a delay. “There are some things that, to renovate a building, have a year-long lead time, so we have to order them a year in advance of starting the construction,” he said. “We realized that taking our time, and making sure that we can do [the construction] correctly, was most important.” To ensure that these supply chain disruptions do not hinder the quality of the building itself, Academy planners will likely be forced to postpone the project. This is not the only difficulty. Director of Operations Jeff Galli emphasized another obstacle: “If your site is over an acre, in order to get your building permit, you need to check a box saying that you’ve talked to the Massachusetts Historical Commission.”  In addition to land size, the state also considers the historical relevance of a construction site. Permit 22 from the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management requires a state-sanctioned historical and archaeological examination of construction on any land that is included or could be included on the National Register of Historic Places. Currently, Old Deerfield Village Historical District and the Deerfield Economic and Industrial Commission (DEDIC) site are listed on this register. Additionally, the Hess Center for the Arts, Ephraim Williams, Hitchcock House, John Williams, Bewkes, and numerous houses on Old Main Street are included in the Massachusetts Historical Commission database. Simply put: Deerfield’s campus lies on historical land. The Pocumtuck Valley in which Deerfield lies was a hunting ground occupied by hundreds of Wabanaki indigenous peoples and, years later, by colonial settlers. Throughout the years, researchers have continued to find fragments of Wabanaki and colonial presence.  In 1968, Deerfield Magazine published a report of students discovering 109 Native American artifacts, including a prehistoric mortar and pestle, war hatchet, and arrowheads along the banks of the Deerfield River within a mile of campus.  In 2005, the Massachusetts Archeological Society excavated the DEDIC site, located five miles away in South Deerfield, and discovered thousands of paleolithic artifacts including fluted points, scrapers, and potshards.  According to The Archeological Conservatory, only seven years ago, the Yazwinski family—who owns the farm intersected by the Small Loop—found an artifact on their land.  In the spring and summer of 2021, Historic Deerfield excavated land surrounding Stebbins House directly across from the Deerfield Inn and uncovered many early 19th-century relics. Not only is the Academy’s campus deeply historical, but it is also surrounded by countless artifacts. Could something be hiding under the Dining Hall, waiting to be exposed by the building’s demolition?  Dean of Faculty Ivory Hills expressed that there is some uncertainty concerning potential discoveries. “It is hard to predict,” he said. “But it’s not like it’s a completely uninvestigated location.” Previous construction projects on campus may have revealed relics on the site, but none were found. However, these developments might have done more than simply turn up the soil; previous construction projects in the area have compromised potential discoveries. “Most of the area has been disturbed,” Mr. Galli remarked. “We do not anticipate finding any artifacts or cultural resources.” When the original Dining Hall, Rosenwald-Shumway, and the Koch Pool were built, the surrounding land was disrupted and any artifacts were likely destroyed.  Despite this probable damage, the Massachusetts Historical Commission requested that Deerfield conduct trial excavations on surrounding land. “We’re currently on the land that the Academy owns by the gas station on routes 5 & 10,” Mr. Galli affirmed. “There’s a company we’re working with to do test pits to see if there’s any artifacts or cultural features that might be of interest.” In the instance that archeologists are to uncover an artifact, Deerfield would not be allowed, by state law, to keep the object. “When we [built] Simmons dorm, we created a partnership with Historic Deerfield,” said Mr. Galli. “If we found any artifacts, they would keep them and curate them. The same agreement has been kept in place.” However, the project would not be halted altogether if a relic was found. “It’s a pause, rather than a cancellation,” Dr. Hills explained. “[Massachusetts tries] to do a thoughtful excavation. It makes the process more deliberate.” Difficulties with the archeological examination, and possibly addressing a discovery, in addition to supply chain restraints, create a massive delay. Mr. Galli concluded, “I think the earliest that [construction will] start is 2024.”

One late night in the common room of Johnson II, many friends and I noticed how stressed our proctors seemed. Making sure that 16 girls are taken care of every day, filling out college applications, and completing school work, our proctors balance these responsibilities on top of handling busy senior schedules.  In hopes of lessening their work for the night, my classmate Haley Hickman ’26 and I sent messages to our fellow hallmates, encouraging them to be ready for bed at the expected time rather than hanging out in other people’s rooms. We hoped that this would make the lives of our proctors, dorm residents, and fellow freshmen a lot easier. Thankfully, my peers responded positively, and the majority of our hall was in bed by 10:30 p.m., but two freshmen shouldn’t have to go out of their way to remind a larger group of students of their responsibilities, especially such basic ground rules of dorm life. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time that our class needed guidance on expectations in the dorms. Crow hours had to be shortened during our third week of school because some 9th graders were not back in their rooms before Crow hours ended. Faculty members had conversations with their halls only two weeks into the school year because they were too loud during study hall hours and many Johnson residents were not ready for lights out on time. Although freshmen certainly hold responsibility for how we conduct ourselves within the dorms, our unruly behavior is not entirely our fault. The changes that come with a complete shift in environment and the struggles of adjusting to Deerfield’s unique standards of student life affect our behavior.  “Think about taking 120 different people from different backgrounds, different schools, with each school having their own set of rules. Now they are coming to Deerfield where they all are held to the same expectations, which may be entirely different than something that they are used to,” said Grade 9 Class Dean Heather Brown. She elaborated on freshman behavior, saying, “For many students, this is their first time away from home. So not only are [freshmen] figuring out themselves in the context of a new environment, but figuring out themselves as independent individuals,” Ms. Brown said. When freshmen join Deerfield Academy, discomfort naturally arises from living in a new place with strangers. This causes some students to act out in ways that they normally would not, Ms. Brown said. On top of dealing with that discomfort, Deerfield students have to multitask as they learn more about themselves as students, learners, and people. Some form of pushback to these changes is normal, and important, as it shows growth and learning while facing complex circumstances.  Despite our rough start, I am optimistic for the rest of the year for the freshman class. Although we have lots of room for improvement, according to older students, we aren’t as troublesome as some freshman classes have been in the past. If we can all take a positive step forward as a grade, with respect for our peers, dorm residents, and proctors, we will all grow stronger as a community. We will all spend the next four years of our lives together on one campus. The more consideration and empathy we act with and the more appreciation we show toward the hard-working faculty and student leaders, the more productive and thoughtful we will all grow as one freshman class, united in progress.

Walking down with my friends on Albany Road, I felt that I had truly settled in for the first time after arriving on campus. I believed I had finally found the people I wished to be around for the next four years of my Deerfield career. Yet my thoughts were cut short by a sudden outburst of another language, which took a few seconds for me to register as Chinese. Before I had realized, the entire conversation had switched from English to Chinese. Not understanding the topic at hand, I had no other choice but to stay silent. Seconds later, the group moved on as they turned their backs on me, engrossed in their own enigmatic conversation. In that moment, my dreams of truly fitting in were shattered. Although situations like these may seem minor, the use of other languages in public settings is detrimental to promoting inclusion on campus. During my first month here, I have found that while Deerfield’s diverse community allows me to better understand and empathize with peers from different backgrounds and upbringings, it has also occasionally hindered connection with my peers.  As an international student myself, I know the aches and pains of homesickness too well. I long for delicious Korean food and Seoul’s familiar cityscape, but mainly, I miss the freedom to speak Korean freely with my friends. Finding my place in an environment an ocean away from home is hard enough, and being unable to speak my first language worsens the experience, making me feel like I am missing a part of myself.  I recognize that international students feel a strong instinct to use languages that we are more comfortable with, especially when we are surrounded by other students of the same nationality. However, using other languages can exclude people who do not know those languages — especially on a campus like ours where so many different nationalities connect only through English. This exclusion can be damaging regardless of intention  and prevent relationships from developing further.  This language barrier problem is not limited to purely social settings. Even during sports practices, the use of other languages is far too common. During swim warm-ups, I noticed students who share a native language forming clique, separating themselves from the entire team. The same clique would remain together throughout practice, communicating only with each other. During team exercises, where communication is crucial, the use of other languages creates a rift. The language divide only serves to weaken the bonds between teammates. Furthermore, as speakers of a common language tend to establish friend groups with each other, those who do not speak that language encounter difficulty when trying to join the group. This pattern exacerbates exclusion because these friend groups inadvertently exclude others from joining them. Thus, they are  also cutting off alternative avenues for connection by discouraging peers who do not speak their language from reaching out again. We should approach conversations with empathy, keeping in mind the cultural diversity that exists at Deerfield.  Collectively, we should strive to create an environment on campus where everyone feels included, as promoting inclusivity within a diverse community is an important concern for all students. When participating in group conversations, let’s take a moment to look around and see what languages would allow everyone to participate.

I’ve been filling in my planner with all my to-do items for the week in multicolored categories every Sunday night since I was in sixth grade. This year, however, my planner is a bit more full with a new green subcategory. “Fill out symptom survey online.”  “Physician Appt.” “10:00 VITALS AT HC DON’T FORGET!!!”  As a student navigating a serious medical issue at Deerfield, my days look very different from those of my healthier peers. I don’t do a co-curricular activity which gives my body time to rest, as well as time to attend my various doctor’s appointments. I don’t participate in sit-down meals in order to manage my diet, and I meet with the staff at the Health Center twice a week for a quick vital check. Even my arrival this year looked very different from those of past years; I attended my first class two weeks late, as I was still in a medical facility when Fall Term started.  My experience with the Health Center this year differs drastically from last year, when I visited the Health Center twice a month at most for medicine to help me deal with relatively minor issues such as migraines, cold, or strep. One time, I needed to stay in the Health Center for the day because my migraine left me especially sensitive to light and sound and a bit nauseous. When I tried to start working on what I could so I wouldn’t be too far behind, a nurse kindly told me that I could either sleep, or, if I was well enough, leave and return to class. At that moment, I realized that the I could only be seen as too ill to stay awake, or fine enough to go to class. Now, the nurse was probably encouraging me to sleep to make sure that I wasn’t abusing the Health Center to complete work, but there is plenty of gray area between completely incapicitated and healthy, and within that, there is a large subset of illnesses where a person can’t go to class but can still do work. I know by now almost everyone has caught some version of the “Freshman Flu,” “Village Virus,” or, to use a term that puts slightly less blame on the Class of 2026, the common cold. Last year, I experienced just how hard it is to take a sick day when you just don’t feel like you can get out of bed without vomiting or passing out from exhaustion. However, the school offers much less empathy to students with an ordinary illness than those with a chronic one. Excluding COVID-19 and fevers, students have to self-advocate to take sick days.  Although this lack of empathy is largely due to structural problems with school accommodations, such as limited help from the Health Center and the difficulty of receiving exemptions or extensions for work, school culture is also a major contributor, especially in terms of stigma coming from the student body itself. It’s no secret that Deerfield is a school for overachievers in every discipline. Sleep deprivation, absurdly long studying periods, and the number of meals skipped to do homework are not seen as hardships to avoid, but sources of pride that show dedication to your work. In a similar vein, those who take sick days can feel a subconscious pressure to keep on working through an illness, perhaps thinking it proves just how many extra miles they will go for a coveted A+. This idea is only reinforced by my experiences in the Health Center that implied I could either sleep or leave. Assistant Head of Nursing Daika Diefendorf said that the reason students need to stay at the Chen to get their APs cleared is for “accountability and safety,” but in my opinion, this policy forces students to make the stressful choice between staying at a place where they can’t work or attending classes while feeling horrible. Yes, I acknowledge that there is a distinct difference between a chronic condition and a stomach bug, but I still believe the school should make a stronger effort to show the empathy it has extended to me (and doubtlessly many other students with long term medical issues) to any ill student. Last fall, I had a two-week-long head cold when all I wanted to do was sleep for fifteen hours. While a cough isn’t as painful as a constant poking and prodding—which I endured when nurses drew my blood weekly to check my vital signs over the summer—my cold still made me feel terrible: stuffed up, nauseous, and just plain tired. I believe both of these conditions make a student eligible for support and rest time, even though the cold can be healed with some medicine and rest while a long term condition might never fully go away. I immensely appreciate all the support the school has shown me this year, but I would have appreciated receiving the same empathy during my illness last year, even though it wasn’t a diagnosed condition. The Student Handbook is incredibly vague around medical excuses for missed classes. Currently, there are no clear guidelines around missed classwork. When outlining how a student should go about completing missed assignments, The Student Handbook only says that students should “talk to their teachers if they are unable to complete a graded assignment because of illness or injury, whether it is an in-class assignment such as a test or quiz or an out-of-class assignment such as a paper or project.” This doesn’t provide any exact details. Upon reading this, I immediately wondered whether a student could request to move back assignments because they missed class content, as well as the maximum extension length for which a student can ask. To clarify the bounds of Health center policy, student government candidates have been advocating for a formal “mental health day” system to be put in place, which I support. At the beginning of my freshman year, I believed that mental health days actually existed but upon investigating the student handbook, I discovered that it was only a wishful rumor among students. Mental health is just as important as physical health, and the student body would benefit from the establishment of a clear, widespread advertisement of an official policy on how to take a daylong break. While administration would need to place some precautions to ensure that healthy students didn’t use the Health Center to skip a test or take a quick nap, I do believe there should be a more formal “sick day” system in place. In an ideal world, this would include detailed guidelines about what to expect regarding missed classwork, including information about tests and quizzes when a student has missed class content. Additionally, I think there should be some system where a student can skip an academy event, such as a sit down meal, without having to be in the Health Center if they have reported being sick within a certain amount of time. This way, students wouldn’t have to worry about APs or go through the process of checking into and staying at the Chen. I believe the implementation of such a system would massively benefit the student body.  If I was told this year that I would receive no accommodations for my medical issue, I would have had no idea of how to approach the school year. I would have had to have appointments late at night and accrue so many APs that I would be promptly put on Level 3 Sanctions. Luckily, I have received exactly what I need in terms of extensions and guidance this year. Deerfield, of course, would never flat out deny assistance to any student, but I still think Deerfield would have a happier, healthier student body if everyone, like me, receives exactly what they need to fully recover.  Throughout this year, the Student Life Office, Academic Support Office, Health Center staff, and my teachers have been almost overly generous and compassionate in helping me return to my studies. And while I have had to awkwardly avoid or vaguely answer questions about why I’m not boarding this term without sacrificing my medical privacy, my peers have been understanding as well. Because of my condition, I have received countless extensions and emails telling me “not to worry about that assignment,” as well as guidance from Director of Academic Support Mrs. Koyama and Director of Medical Services Dr. Benson on how to best reintegrate into the hectic Deerfield lifestyle. Overall, I could not be more thankful for all the support Deerfield has provided, and their grace has made it easier to manage my number one priority: returning to full health.

Your dorm is your home away from home – or rather, it should be. Deerfield Academy strives to create a strong residential community where students and faculty residents are able to maintain close-knit relationships while managing logistics such as visitations that come with student rooms and other communal spaces in the dorm. At a boarding school, it is important for students to feel safe on campus and especially in their dorms, which are meant to be secure and private. Dean of Students Samuel Bicknell said that the 2022-2023 Student Handbook ensures that Deerfield accommodates different cultural, religious and family backgrounds while giving parents peace of mind when sending their 13 to 20 year old kids away from home. Policies regarding student dormitories were created with this wide age range in mind to ensure that all families are comfortable trusting the Academy with their children’s safety.  School rules allow faculty residents to walk into students’ rooms. Some faculty residents are known for their “knock-and-open” combination, without verbal confirmation.  When students are changing or simply seeking the time and space to collect themselves, this intrusion, though intended to ensure student safety, may  violate personal boundaries and potentially result in miscommunication or confusion. The Student Handbook contains no limitations on what faculty residents can do with respect to students’ rooms, leaving it entirely up to their discretion. If concerns are brought up about a student’s mental health or physical wellbeing, faculty members are encouraged to check in with students. However, many students are not familiar with just how much liberty faculty residents have with their privacy. Therefore, it is called into question whether faculty residents strike a balance between safety and privacy that is comfortable for students.  Mr. Bicknell reiterated, “Safety is our priority. We [The Student Life Office] want to do our best to make students feel like they have private spaces while also supporting them as they navigate a residential boarding school community.” However, it is hard to see that in action when rules and expectations within a student’s dorm are not communicated effectively by dorm residents nor questioned by the students in the hall.   Mr. Bicknell said that communication is key to establishing “a mutual understanding of safety and security” in the dorm. In order to mitigate future concerns or conflicts, faculty residents should start the year by outlining what students can expect from them in the dorm. Discussing students’ personal boundaries and getting feedback from everyone in the hall would foster an environment that better caters to everyone’s needs. This hall-wide communication would build understanding and trust between students and faculty members. Dorm residents are here to work with students and figure out what works best for them. For instance, with underclassmen study hall, dorm residents could allow some leniency in the rules throughout the year provided that their hall shows exemplary responsibility.  It’s important to keep in mind that faculty are here to support students and guide them through their journey in navigating and constructing a life away from the comforts of home. It’s difficult to feel comfortable in a space (that at home would be wholly private) when the possibility of intrusion or judgment always lingers. More can, and should, be done to ensure maximum comfort for students while still maintaining necessary safety measures.

Dear Reader, As you flip through this issue, you’ll see articles ranging from a feature on the haunted history of Poc to an Op-Ed on Deerfield’s Health Center policies. What most readers don’t notice, however, are the articles missing from the page — the articles that need to be rewritten, reworded, or revised. Every month, we postpone articles because we want to spend a little more time with them — either to make them more cogent and comprehensive, or, more importantly, to minimize harm. “Minimiz[ing] Harm,” a tenant of the National Scholastic Press Association’s Model Code of Ethics, means understanding the impact of our words on those around us. It means recognizing that our words can have unintended consequences despite our best intentions. For example, using the passive voice when describing sexual violence shields the perpetrator from guilt and blame. The phrase “The situation was taken advantage of” erases the perpetrator from the story. In comparison, “Mr. X took advantage of the situation” highlights that the harm was inflicted by a particular person.  At the Scroll , our words have power, for better or worse.  This September, we planned to publish results from a student life survey conducted last year. However, after discussing the data with the administration and Ms. Naughton, we decided to postpone our broadsheet. Our intention for publishing the broadsheet was to normalize such discussions of student life on campus. However, the survey questions and the methodology were not nuanced when we first sent the survey out. For one, it defined bullying and sexual harrassment too narrowly, and publishing such responses could have misrepresented and misled the student body. Moreover, by drawing attention to specific communities in our data, such as non-binary students, we might have risked inadvertently exposing or “outing” them. We need to take time to clean the data, reword the questions, and reframe our results before presenting them. Given the amount of revisions we need to implement, the broadsheet will end up being a long-term project. Likewise, this summer, in the wake of Dobbs v. Jackson, we drafted an article on contraceptive access at Deerfield. However, we had to reconsider and rewrite the article because of privacy concerns and how community reactions could affect existing services at the health center. We wanted to make sure our words were precise, accurate, and minimized harm.  Furthermore, this issue contains an Op-Ed by Abby Tang ’25 on respect for student privacy in dorms. The article was originally supposed to be published in May 2022 but was postponed to this issue. We wanted Abby to acquire more quotes from the Student Life Office to ensure we were not misrepresenting current policies or creating more confusion.  Every issue, we scrutinize our words, we consider different stakeholders and their concerns, and we admit to our mistakes. We try to do more good than harm.  As cliché as it sounds, with great power comes great responsibility. As a school-sponsored club, we have the freedom to publish what we want. Our previous volumes have covered Sonya O’Donnell’s sexual discrimination lawsuit, instances of blackface in old yearbooks, and rebukes of Dr. Austin’s policy of “principled neutrality.”  At the same time, writing what we want means we are responsible for the implications and consequences of our words — in other words, we must reduce harm. As the National Scholastic Press Association Model Code of Ethics said, “Student journalists have an inherent obligation in decision making to consider the heritage of their news medium, the values of the school community, … and best interests of readers/listeners/viewers.” The paper you are holding in your hands has the ability to shape narratives at Deerfield; it is a powerful medium of communication. We hope that you will join us on this journey as we aim to “do good.” Reach out to us, write for us, and hold us accountable.  Warmly, Sunshine 냈懃而

How are your classes? What cocurric are you doing? Who are you scheming? Every September, an influx of new students brings excitement in the form of new friends, teammates, and most importantly: schemes.    Schemes are famously (or infamously) one of the most prominent aspects of Deerfield culture. They’re among the first questions you ask a friend while catching up and always a great go-to topic for late weekend nights in the dorm.  To those who may be unfamiliar, “scheming” refers to Deerfield’s carefully crafted art of pursuing a relationship while simultaneously minimizing any potential risk to one’s social status or ego. As Mason Zhao ’20 described it in his 2019 article “Deerfield Schemes,” schemes consist of “Snapchat before in-person chat and visitation before dates.”   Though there may not be anything inherently wrong with the intentions behind scheming, the culture of shallow interactions left in its wake may be negatively impacting the community we like to advertise as unrivaled, welcoming, and united. Take, for example, the extremely casual nature of schemes mentioned above. It’s undeniable that friends’ crushes are still a prominent entertainment in a typical high school or general social setting. However, at Deerfield it’s become a norm to blatantly ask peers about their schemes, putting pressure on others to share a lot more than they may want to. Additionally, we all know the gossip mill on campus runs 24/7, and it’s no shock when your scheme suddenly becomes public knowledge after you told just one friend the night before. Soon you find out your scheme has heard too, and you’re too embarrassed to ever bring it up. And thus the scheming culture of Deerfield has destroyed any chance of you actually ever acting on that crush.  So, how should you approach schemes to minimize the damage done by the publicizing tendencies of Deerfield culture? We know it’s pretty intimidating and maybe even insane to even suggest this, but just hear us out: talking to your crush in person.  We’ve all been there, you’ve been Snapping your scheme for a few weeks and it’s going great, but then you meet up to hang out one night in the Greer and it all goes downhill. Conversation just doesn’t flow as easily when you can’t edit your response to perfection and scroll through Tiktok while waiting for a response, huh?  Starting with the in-person meet up, however, would help you avoid the entirety of this painful process, as you’ll be able to gauge any actual chemistry off the bat. Plus, if your scheme turns out to be as bland as a piece of white bread, you would only spent one night on them as opposed to weeks of counting down the minutes until it’s been an acceptable time to respond to their extremely mediocre Snapchat. Jumping into the deep end like this also ensures that 650 people won’t know who your scheme is before you even get a chance to tell them.  Thus, as the extremely qualified relationship advisors we are, the Scroll XCVII Board urges you to prioritize in-person interactions and wishes you all the luck in your scheming endeavors!

After a two-year hiatus due to COVID restrictions, the Center for Service and Global Citizenship (CSGC) resumed Deerfield’s summer travel trips to Jordan, the Bahamas, the United Kingdom, and the Dominican Republic.  During the 9-day Dominican Republic trip, students partnered with Cambiando Vidas to build a house in the village of Lavapie. Cambiando Vidas, which means “changing lives” in Spanish, is an organization that supports families in the Dominican Republic by constructing houses for them. Students helped build the structure from one cinder block high to a fully functional house with running water and electricity. This was the 12th house that Deerfield students built in the Dominican Republic, and it was built in honor of Aiden Day ’17, who participated in two house builds while he attended Deerfield. On his first trip to the Dominican Republic, a boy from an orphanage entrusted Aiden with a small rock to keep safe. This summer, the rock was brought back and placed in the front corner of the house. On Deerfield’s campus, in front of John Williams dormitory, a stone beneath a memorial tree reads “Aiden Francesco Day ’17 1998-2020. He always put the needs of others before himself, sharing these words: ‘Every person has a place of goodness in their heart; it is our job to help bring it out into the world.’” In his journal, Aiden wrote, “There is a difference between a house and a home. I define home as a place where you feel the happiest. It’s the place you feel the safest, the place that brings back the most memories, the place where you feel you belong.”’ The Dominican Republic was an unplugged trip where students could not access phones or the internet. Lauren Smith ’24 found this to be valuable and said, “Without the distraction of a phone, I was rewarded with the time to form deeper relationships with both my peers and the local residents.” This trip helped her realize “how much more you get in life when you are engaged in the world around you without the presence of a phone.” The 8-day Bahamas unplugged trip was centered around marine ecology and sustainability and took place on the island of Eleuthera. Students worked with the Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI), a research and innovation center at the Island School in Eleuthera, and learned about environmental awareness and impact. Researchers at CEI welcomed Deerfield students into their research about habitat conservation. The group learned about conch fishing, its availability, and its impact on cultural and economic growth. They examined 156 conches for data collection, looking at lip thickness, age, and harvesting time. They also spent plenty of time in the water, including an adventure snorkeling in mangroves. They saw many small fish that were hidden in mangroves for protection and also encountered some pufferfish and a lemon shark. Even a downpour in the middle of their trip didn’t stop the group from venturing outside and enjoying the Bahamas landscape. Recalling her favorite moment from the trip, Elizabeth Richards ’24 said, “One day, as a tropical storm passed through, we went on a SERT (South Eleuthera Road Trip). Despite being soaked through, we had fun exploring a cave with a huge bat population and caverns that opened up to the outside. Despite the weather, we were still outside and really experiencing each moment.” Students were also encouraged to practice mindfulness about their own environmental impact by thinking about waste, water, and electricity usage. During their stay at the Island School, the group observed how the school practices environmental consciousness through food, water, and waste. Food scraps are either fed to pigs or composted, and waste habits are turned into habitats for fungi. They collect water in five large cisterns and conserve water usage during dry spells. As an island nation, the Island School works to find sustainable solutions to problems that larger countries may not face, such as infertile soil and limited waste management. They have created a system where they farm a species of fish and harvest its waste to fertilize the garden. After the fish outgrow the tanks, they are taken to the kitchen to be fileted.  For 13 days, the students on the United Kingdom trip examined the intersections between art and contemporary culture. During the first week, they explored different neighborhoods in London to discover how art affects society. They visited towns like Bristol and Camden and traveled to museums such as Tate Modern and Tate Britain. Two Envoys staff members joined the Deerfield students, discussing the differences between being a tourist versus a traveler and ways to maintain respect for different cultures in new environments. In the second week, students took classes at the University of the Arts London and experimented with different mediums of art.  Charlotte Steffensen ’25 decided to apply for the United Kingdom trip because she was taking the Introduction to Studio Art class. She enjoyed taking a sculpture class at the University of the Arts London and learning about new mediums such as plaster and wire. Although Steffenson was nervous because it was her first time flying overseas without her family, she said, “During the trip, almost all my nerves went away, and I was always excited about the new activities planned each day. I missed my family, but at the end of the trip, I wished that I could have stayed in London for longer.” The Jordan trip was a 9-day exploration focusing on deepening students’ awareness of culture and language. Students experienced the rich culture and history of Jordan by visiting different sites, touring the landscape, sampling Middle Eastern food, and participating in workshops. The group also visited the city of Jerash to promote the “Close the Gap” campaign by supporting women in sports. Students visited the Dead Sea, where they were able to swim, float with little effort, and touch the bottom, which was made of salt sheets. They also got their hands in the kitchen at Beit Sitti, a local business that offers cooking classes. Beit Sitti translates to “Grandmother’s House.” They learned a traditional Jordanian dish called maqloubeh which is a combination of chicken, rice, cauliflower, and various spices. Deerfield’s sister school, King’s Academy, hosted the group at the beginning and end of their journey. Each student was given a different job to handle in order to create a complete dinner for everyone. The group concluded their journey and exploration of Jordan’s culture, landscape, and food with a homemade meal at Arabic Teacher Lina Al Samawi’s house. Although Josephine Cramer ’24 currently takes Latin at Deerfield, she applied for the Jordan trip to explore a different culture and climate. Before the trip, she had never been farther East than central Europe. She enjoyed learning new things while being immersed in the culture and food of Jordan. Cramer said, “You are never hungry in Jordan. There’s so much delicious beef, chicken, lamb, stuffed grape leaves, vegetables, pita, and hummus. I was constantly learning new words in Arabic while learning about all these new foods.” Some members of the group had their Jordan trip cut short due to COVID. Two days before the scheduled departure date out of Jordan, Max Peh ’24 tested positive for COVID. He had symptoms on the fourth day and got tested the next day. Regarding how the school handled his positive diagnosis, Peh said, “The first day was rough because the school didn’t prepare for it, and no one really knew what we had to do.” He was later informed that he needed to quarantine in the dorm at King’s Academy until he tested negative in order to fly out. He tested daily at the King’s Academy lab. Peh believes that Deerfield “could have done better with testing before [the group] left for Jordan because there was someone in the group that had symptoms before [the group] even got to Jordan, but they never got tested.” Regardless of an unexpected ending for some students, the group was still able to enjoy learning about Jordan thanks to the help of Ms. Samawi. Ms. Samawi encouraged the Jordan trip because she wanted to provide a chance for many different types of students, including Arabic learners, Middle East historians, and Jordan enthusiasts. She hoped to give students an opportunity “to experience everything that [she thought] Jordan represented and the Jordanian culture and the Arab culture.” Ms. Samawi worked at King’s Academy for 10 years before coming to Deerfield. She was the Class Dean and Director of the Arabic Year Program. She helped plan the entire itinerary and worked with a close friend, who owns a travel agency in Jordan, along with members in the CSGC office to work on logistics and planning daily agendas. She enjoyed working “with intelligent, passionate members of the Deerfield community who truly care about the mission of those trips and what these trips bring to the Deerfield student experience.” Her favorite moments of the trip include the times the group spent eating together, seeing new things, reflecting, and bonding. For future summers, she hopes to make Jordan an annual CSGC trip. After navigating COVID restrictions for the past few years, the continuation of Deerfield’s summer travel trips will allow students to enrich their knowledge by engaging in skills and developing new perspectives geared towards global citizenship.

From Thursday, June 9 to Sunday, June 12, Deerfield’s boys’ and girls’ rowing teams participated in the US Rowing Youth National Championship, placing first and fifth, respectively. The event was held in Sarasota, FL, at Nathan Benderson Park. Both teams raced in coxed fours, featuring four rowers and one coxswain. Nationals began with a 1900-meter time trial on Thursday in which the top twelve finishers from each team advanced to the semi-final on Friday. In the semi-finals, both Deerfield’s boys’ and girls’  placed in the top three and advanced into the A Final on Sunday. The boys’ race was especially intense and the team won with a strong final sprint, passing a talented Greenwich crew.  The championships encompassed a variety of ages, categories, and boat classes, from singles to eights. Participating in the New England Championship granted both the boys and girls team an invitation to the nationals in the regatta of varsity fours which Deerfield continued to use for the nationals. Despite the confidence gained by the boys’ first boat from their huge victory in New Englands, Nationals required the team to adjust its line-up. The competition did not permit post-graduate students to participate, so the team had to replace Nick Gaensler ’22 with Casey Smith ’22. Despite this sudden change, Casey was able to adapt quickly to the upcoming race. Moreover, the training in the Princeton and the team’s fast times gave the crew confidence that they had the speed to compete at the top of the event, although with all of the nation’s top crews, the result was unpredictable.  Unlike most races during the season, which were 1500 meters in length, Nationals was 2000 meters. Both boys’ and girls’ teams prepared for weeks before the race. Directly after graduation, both teams went to Lake Carnegie in Princeton, NJ, which has minimal current, allowing the team to assess their speed while also focusing on the various parts and techniques involved in a race, including the start, base speed, and finishing sequence. Once the team arrived in Florida, physical training was reduced. Instead, the team spent most of their time discussing their goals in approaching races. At Princeton, the girls’ team also conducted several workouts to adjust their race fitness and cadence to a slightly longer race. A typical practice included a drilling component, focusing on technical elements, and a fitness component, including interval training.   The weather conditions during the race were favorable. In Florida, as is typical in early June, the weather was hot and humid with occasional thunderstorms. Fortunately, the races took place without delays or cancellations due to thunder. Although the heat and humidity were not ideal for the teams, both teams were prepared for it.  The success at Nationals was inseparable from the supportive team culture of both teams. The boys’ team was one of the biggest that Deerfield ever had, with 60 athletes, all of whom were willing to support and challenge one another. According to Spencer Washburn, coach of the boys’ rowing team and Associate Director of Admission, “there aren’t many shortcuts on the water – you just have to be willing to challenge yourself and to be challenged by others. Also, they really seemed to like each other, which goes a long way when you’re spending as much time together as this group does.”  Additionally, Parker Washburn (unrelated to Spencer Washburn), the coach of the girls’ rowing team and science teacher, spoke about the importance of creating a positive and supportive team culture with the two captains of the girls’ rowing team, Lila Nottage ‘22 and Nicole Xing ’22.  Speaking of the girls’ team, Mr. S. Washburn also commented, “To have a team that is strong in the same boathouse was inspiring for us, and the collaborative effort really helped to raise the level of performance for everyone…at the end of the day, the culture at the boathouse is built around hard work and enjoying what you do.”  Following the competition, cousins Oscar Patton ’23 and John Patton ’23 traveled along with Natalie Meyers ’23 and Charles Richards ’23 from Florida to California to attend the US Junior National Team Selection Camp in hopes of racing at the Junior World Championships later this summer. Both Pattons and Richards competed in the US Junior National Team Selection Camp for the USA.

On May 22, Deerfield’s girls varsity tennis team won the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) Championship match against Andover at their Rockwell Tennis Courts. It was the first time in the program’s history that Deerfield girls varsity tennis claimed a Class A Championship. Isha Rao ’22 and Hunter Pulliam ’22 won their doubles match 8-2. Next up were Natalia Sanders ’24 and Olivia Waterfall ’23, who secured yet another victory for Big Green ending 8-1.  However, Andover won a close match against Daphne Gavros ’22 and Avery Brooker ’24 with a finishing score of 5-8. The tide finally turned once again in Deerfield’s favor when Rao, Pulliam, and Waterfall all secured wins in singles matches for Deerfield. Earlier in the season, Deerfield had lost to Andover, distinguished as NEPSAC’s first seed, with a score of 4-5. So, as they made their way to the van in the morning, the girls knew it was very possible that they would not emerge victorious.  Despite the team’s prior loss, Head Coach Mr. Christian Austin was not surprised when the team won. He commented on the team’s work ethic and resolve, saying, “Both our final two opponents in the New England tournament had beaten us narrowly just a month prior. By the numbers, they could have very realistically done so again. Our team was willing to fight and work through 90-degree heat for hours until the job was done.” Although the girls certainly knew when to buckle down when necessary, Mr. Austin described their team dynamic, first and foremost, as fun. He stated,“ The girls arrived each day ready to focus and work but also laugh. Most importantly, the players cared about one another and the team.” Olivia Waterfall ’23 concurred, saying, “This year I would say we were as close as we could be. Our team was always laughing and texting in our group chats, and I always felt like we were really united as a whole. Even though tennis can be an individual sport at times, like when playing singles, we really made it feel like a team by always supporting one another on and off the courts.” In terms of training this year, Waterfall said the main difference was the collective mindset of, in Mr. Austin’s words, “want[ing] it more.” But the team didn’t just hope for success to come sauntering by; they grew with each match, mentally and emotionally. Waterfall stated, “I think the best thing about competing is that you always gain something, whether it’s a win or a lesson. If you lose you learn something and that helps you compete better.”  This season, she struggled to overcome “the mental game that comes with playing tennis and realizing that getting mad doesn’t help you win.”She worked to control her emotions on the court, which proved fruitful when her deliberate and strategic shots contributed a point toward the historic victory.  The girls varsity tennis team hopes to continue their success into the 2022-2023 school year with Waterfall as their captain.