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After 12 years as Deerfield Academy’s Athletic Director, Mr. Charles “Chip” Davis has decided to step down at the end of this school year but will continue teaching History and Economics. Several months ago, the Academy released an ambitious job description to find a replacement for Mr. Davis and over 300 candidates responded. In order to take on the task of sifting through such a vast pool of candidates, a committee was formed to conduct a series of application readings and interviews. The committee was comprised of teachers and faculty members including Mr. Conrad Pitcher, Ms. Genevieve Pitt, Mr. Michael Schloat, Ms. Jess Lapachinski, as well as several members of the administration. After narrowing down the pool of 300, the committee conducted phone interviews with 12 potential candidates. From there, four finalists were invited to campus to meet with the committee as well as several student-athletes including Annie Blasberg ’16, Zeke Emerson ’16, Jan Menafee ’16, and Meghan Halloran ’17. Mr. Davis commended the committee’s work in selecting candidates with a wide age range, a gender split, and different backgrounds. Among the final four were two men and two women, and while two hail from other prep schools, two work at NESCACs (New England Small College Athletic Conference). Blasberg, a tri-varsity athlete, was grateful for her role in the process: “It was a cool experience to be able to talk with each of the four candidates, all of whom were extremely qualified. We were really given a voice throughout the whole process.” Emerson, a tri-varsity athlete, stated, “It was great meeting the candidates and getting to hear their ideas. We also were very eager to share our ideas, concerns, and what we want to see stay the same about Deerfield athletics.” Mr. Bob Howe, the current Athletic Director at The Loomis Chaffee School, will be joining the Big Green next fall in Mr. Davis’ place as Athletic Director. He commented, “Coming to Deerfield is so exciting for me in so many ways! [It’s] a great school with a great reputation and I, along with many coaches and administrators, have been given an opportunity to make the school even better!” Having graduated from Loomis Chaffee himself, Howe is well acquainted with boarding school culture and athletics. “I leave Loomis not because I’m disappointed with the school in any way. I grew up here as a faculty kid and graduated from the school. I then left for 25 years and came back to campus in my current role as Athletic Director. Much of my life has been in one place and sometimes it’s just natural to look for new challenges and opportunities. When I read the job description put forward by the Board of Trustees and the senior administrative team at Deerfield I knew right away this was an opportunity I couldn’t look past,” stated Howe. Howe plans to arrive on campus this summer, and Mr. Davis is optimistic that he will transition easily into the Deerfield community. Howe remarked, “Chip Davis’ leadership and direction of the program has always produced competitive teams and good sportsmanship. One of the things I’m most excited about is coming to a place like Deerfield and having the support from the previous Athletic Director. He has always been a class act to me and to our Loomis teams. Chip is a highly regarded Athletic Director among the prep school circuit and to have him close by will be a huge comfort to me.”  With confidence in and deep reverence for Deerfield Athletics, Mr. Davis believes that “Deerfield is in good hands.”

RAMONA DAVIS ’17: I am a student of color, but I had never before been so aware of my race before coming to Deerfield. In contrast, the majority of my peers—who are not students of color—do not have any significant awareness of their own race. I think people gravitate toward places of comfort. And because we often classify conversations about race as too “uncomfortable” and choose to sidestep around this and other “uncomfortable” topics, we never dive beyond their surface. For example, the Deerfield MLK Day celebration was met with disinterest by some. Some members of the community disregard issues and current events that impact minority students. At Deerfield, the difference between the minority and majority is that the majority has the option to not care about the issues that affect the daily lives of many minority students. For the people who have this option, you should choose to care. ANNIE ROBERTS ’17: Deerfield is an incredibly diverse place, one of the most diverse places I have ever been. We have kids from all around the world who come from unique backgrounds, and yet while at Deerfield I have never been more aware of my race. At home, being black felt like just another part of me; here at Deerfield, it sometimes feels like a burden. This mostly happens when I feel like I’m fighting to get my peers to understand the importance of DBSA or the relevance of The Black Lives Matters Movement. At Deerfield, in such a tight community, we should not have to beg our peers to be open-minded or to try to understand new ideas. I believe that at Deerfield our differences should not become burdens, but should be celebrated. NIA GOODRIDGE ’17: People of shades of brown, yellow, and white populate Deerfield’s campus, yet during free time, these various shades form a color gradient across campus—from the Dining Hall to the Greer. It is a social divide that is visible yet intangible. Though we aim to create an inclusive community, the racial divide on campus is usually ignored by the unaware or invalidated by the aware. As a student of color at Deerfield, I believe issues surrounding race need to be addressed more on campus. Too often, we gravitate to those who look like us. On multiple occasions, I myself have chosen the table of color at a walk-through meal over a table of white peers because of this implicit bias. Being high school students in search of companionship, we assume that someone of the same skin tone will have more in common with us than someone who does not. By doing this we are not only increasing divisions in the student body, but also overlooking the beautiful connection we all share: being human. ETHAN THAYUMANAVAN ’17: Race. It’s one of the first things you see when you look at a person. Don’t tell me you’re “color-blind,” because you’re not. My race is part of my identity, so don’t tell me you refuse to acknowledge it. And no matter how open-minded you think you are, you make subconscious judgments based on what you see. On campus, being white can be equated with being normal. People of color often feel marginalized. The origins of this “white is right” attitude can be traced back through history. Just look at the Trail of Tears, the Jim Crow laws, the Chinese Exclusion Act. And today, the media reinforces this attitude further. Countless movies like , , , and every movie  tell stories of a white protagonist saving minority men and women who need the white person’s help. The media’s white savior complex reinforces the idea of white racial superiority. Everyone on campus, white and non-white, has the responsibility to move past this attitude. We must first acknowledge that race is part of an individual’s unique identity and then accept that while it makes people different, it does not make them unequal. I take pride in my race – I don’t need saving.

During the first week of Spring Break, Deerfield’s Advanced Dance Ensemble will journey to Jamaica. The trip will begin in Kingston, where the group will spend the majority of its time, and will culminate in Ochos Rios. Visual and Performing Arts Chair Ms. Jennifer Whitcomb said that Advanced Dance Ensemble member Taro Jones ’17, who is from Jamaica, “comes from a school there with a really vibrant dance program,” called Campion College, explained Ms. Whitcomb.Campion College is an academically successful, parochial institution, and Ms. Whitcomb cited Taro’s connection with the school as the reason for the ensemble’s trip. Ms. Whitcomb has maintained contact with the school for the past two years, in hopes of collaborating with them. While in Kingston, the Advanced Dance Ensemble will perform at a children’s hospital, will take master classes with prominent Jamaican dance teachers, and will also commission a piece from a famous choreographer, Marlon Simms, the creator of Jones’s piece in the Winter Dance Concert. “It’s going to be very dance-intensive,” Ms. Whitcomb said. When asked what aspect of the trip he most looks forward to, Jones  said, “I’m interested to see how these two groups interact, because I heard that we will be doing a collaboration… I think it’s going to be fun.” Advanced Dance Ensemble member Amelia Evans ’18 said, “I’m excited to be more cultured in the way I dance and the different styles I’ve been taught, and to work with a new choreographer.” Throughout the trip, the group will be immersed in a style of dance that developed through the convergence of European and African cultures. “Jamaica has an incredible dance scene that is not only contemporary, modern, North-American, but also Afro-Caribbean,” Ms. Whitcomb said. Jones concluded, “Different styles of music and dance have developed along with folk dance, and I think that experience with different styles of dance can help the dance ensemble be well rounded, and can give some ideas for future dances.”

Deerfield alumnus Zibo Gao ’15 recently introduced his band, EVELINE, by way of social media. Earlier this month, the five-member band released their first two songs titled “Sail On” and “Those Shoes” on YouTube. During his time at Deerfield, Gao was well known for his musicality, especially on the violin. A prominent member of the chamber orchestra and music program at Deerfield, he had been studying classical violin since he was five. In an earlier issue of , he stated that to him, music is a form of connection: “I can feel the music really well. I can tell what the music wants to say to the audience.” A freshman at Columbia University, Gao met his band members, Sias Merkling (guitarist), Bruce Young (guitarist), Nick Greene (bassist), and Marco Starger (drummer), through a common interest in music. Gao had always hoped to start a band in college. When he found out that Starger was a drummer, the two of them decided to have a “jam session” together with another mutual friend. “Although our first jam session didn’t go well,” Zibo shared, “We decided to keep looking for guitarists and bassists.” After reaching out to Columbia’s community, they were able to finalize the group. Both “Sail On” and “Those Shoes” have been receiving positive feedback, with over a thousand views for each song. “It was surprising to see equal amounts of likes for both songs,” Gao reflected. “But at the beginning, people are mainly curious and compliment the effort, so we’ll see how professionals evaluate those songs.” The process of releasing their songs was not an easy one. The members had different visions for their songs and often had arguments due to their different personalities. Additionally, Gao said, “Columbia didn’t have a practice room or even a drum set. Most of the time, we just practiced in our dorm rooms.” The most important asset that has helped the band’s vision come true is their secret sixth member, Paul Chang. Chang, who is in Gao’s Music Humanity class, is the producer of the band. “One day, I found out that Paul was actually a professional producer back in Korea,” Gao explained. The band recorded their songs in Chang’s dorm room, which is designed like a mini studio. They used a program called Logic Pro to edit the tracks.        “[Chang] is no doubt the most talented musician I’ve ever met, and without him, the band would never be where it is right now.” Although Gao has been devoting much of his time to his band, he still continues pursuing his passion for classical music. Currently, he is part of Columbia’s orchestra and plays in a Rachmaninoff Piano Trio. Gao explained, “Although I do prefer playing in the band, because it has more liberty and interaction within the team, the complexity and depth that classical music has is incredible.” Gao’s piano trio plans to perform at Carnegie Hall, one of the most prestigious performing arts centers, on April 16th. Gao stated that “messing around in [Deerfield’s] music studio” helped him not only with songwriting but also with producing his own songs.  Gao hopes that Deerfield students take advantage of the facilities and opportunities at DA: “Deerfield provides you with everything you need before you come out to the real world and experience real problems,” he explained, “So make sure you make the best of it.” EVELINE is currently working on an EP album, which will be released in early April, and recently won Columbia’s “Battle of the Bands” competition, which means they will be performing at at one of Columbia’s biggest spring concerts, Bacchanal, where artists such as Macklemore and The Chainsmokers have performed in the past. Gao concluded, “I’m excited to see how the band will mature.”

Relationships and sexuality have been part of an ongoing conversation at Deerfield for the last several years, and the administration has made strides to encourage healthier relationships in the form of date nights and more open conversations about parietals policies. However, it seems to me that an important component of this conversation—how pornography affects the relationships between genders at Deerfield—has been ignored. Like race, sex and porn aren’t exactly topics most students are comfortable talking about. While the subject of pornography occasionally popped up as a topic during late night weekend talks in boys’ dorms, regular discussions about it were non-existent until the arrival of Dr. Gina Barreca this fall, during which she lamented how the prevalence and extreme nature of internet pornography has changed the way young adults view sex and relationships. While a large percentage of the boys in the community shrugged off the notion, I don’t think Dr. Barreca is that far off. Much has been said about Deerfield’s gender divide and unnatural hookup culture, but it seems to me that we’ve been addressing the symptoms instead of the root causes of these problems. Porn is an undeniable presence on campus, and it doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Porn perpetuates sexist and racist stereotypes (submissive Asian women, muscular and well-hung black men forcefully dominating women), and exposes its primary demographic—young men—to a version of sex that throws sincere connection and passion out the window. Internet porn is all about dominance and male pleasure; the female is there to please the male. Much like the fast food industry, it’s cheap and might not be all real, but it’s fast and near instantaneous in its ability to satisfy one’s cravings. Herein lies the problem: porn conditions its consumers to want more ways to satisfy themselves, and it starts to affect societal expectations for sex and relationships. Deerfield’s hookup culture is perfect evidence of this, with its focus on getting what you want from someone and having minimal relations beyond that. Relationships have been commoditized, stripped of the “hard parts” (getting to know someone, sharing mutual interests) and prioritizing physical attraction above all else. While this can sometimes lead to long term, healthy relationships, hookups often burn out after a certain point, if not immediately after the initial event. The worst part of the commoditization of relationships is the implicit commoditization of women on campus. Women in porn often have bodies that are hyper sexualized and “perfect,” with improbable figures designed for the male gaze. Due to porn’s pervasiveness on the Internet, this false ideal gets carried over to expectations for real women, as well. While talking about girls in guys’ dorms has been around as long as the equivalent in girls’ dorms, it strikes me that the conversations in guys’ dorms tend to be much more graphic. While my female friends have described how nice a guy might be, or how he has an attractive face or personality, many guys I know on campus tend to focus on girls’ bodies, as opposed to their personality or interests. This false expectation for women to have bodies like pornstars, paired with other negative perceptions of women such as slut-shaming and the like, ultimately create a situation where everyone loses, but especially the girls and women of the school. The media we partake in does have an effect on how we think, and in order to have better conversations about the place of gender and sexuality at Deerfield, we need to acknowledge that it’s on us, the boys and men of the Academy, to seriously think about how we value the girls and women we share this place with.

If there is one word to describe boarding life universally, it is consuming. This is not necessarily negative; in fact, the consuming nature of boarding life is often what makes it so successful. Living with the people you go to school with fosters stronger relationships. Seeing your teachers during meal times makes communication easier. Being around a community of people engaged in various activities, with concerts and games and performances happening constantly, makes it difficult not to find yourself involved in such activities. But engagement in boarding life can come at a cost. Having strong relationships with boarding school friends makes it harder to maintain relationships with people outside of school. Being engrossed in studies and activities is beneficial, but it leaves little time to go out with friends, hang out in your room, or just waste time. Being far from one’s family may teach independence, but it also leads to missing out on quality time. As a weekday boarder (I go home almost every weekend), I have no excuse not to be engaged in the outside world. I can easily plan to go out with friends outside of school on the weekends or spend more time with my family. But because of the consuming nature of boarding life, I often don’t. It’s much easier to simply hang out with the people that you see five days a week than to make an effort and reconnect with old friends. It’s more tempting to stay at home and finish the pile of work you have than to go to a family gathering or birthday party. I’m especially sensitive to this problem, because Jordanian culture is rooted in familial relationships. It’s odd to most people that I only see my extended family once or twice a month, or that most of my neighbors don’t know me. It’s hard for me, too, when I see family and friends checking up on each other, when I know little about their lives. This problem certainly does not apply to everyone—I know many people who manage to maintain relationships and stay close to family even while boarding—and it also isn’t a boarding school’s fault. Nevertheless, it seems that, especially in my school, there is little effort to keep students engaged with the outside world. Simply going to the nearest town requires a set of permissions, and boarders have a limited number of times when they can leave campus during the week (and even on weekends for full boarders). Students have little interaction with other schools, and when there is, be it a basketball game or a debate competition, it happens at a time when other activities are also running. Boarding life is almost always engaging, but more effort needs to be put in to prevent that engagement from turning into isolation.

Dear Reader, I can’t believe I’m writing these words…but this is it! Throughout my time leading this past year, I’ve learned an unbelievable amount about myself and the students and adults on this campus. When I became Editor-In-Chief, I made it my goal to be real with the school—to avoid stories that merely rested on the surface. I’m proud of myself and the 2014-2015 editorial board for our relentless drive to publish stories that either sparked conversation on campus or provided new perspectives. I absolutely could not have accomplished what I did without Managing Editor Brooke Horowitch with whom I was blessed to work this year. Her passion for paired with her attention to detail made her my perfect partner in crime. I’d also like to thank the other page editors for their undying hard work and dedication to making our paper the best it can be. To the Advisors, Ms. Schloat, Ms. Brown, and Mr. Brown, thank you for being the best supporters I could ask for—we were so grateful for you every step of the way. I’m so pleased to announce that the new Editor-In-Chief, who will step into her role next month, is Perry Hamm. I know that Perry has a strong vision for the direction in which she wants to take this paper, and I’m confident that she and the rest of her staff will work to do whatever they can to accomplish that vision. I’m excited for her to begin the experience that I am now ending, and I know she will undergo an unbelievably rewarding amount of character growth in the coming year. My time as Editor-In-Chief has brought with it elation, frustration, passion, and empathy. Thank you to everyone who supported me throughout this endeavour—it was an absolutely surreal experience. I’m so grateful that I had the opportunity to lead , and I’m so thankful to the school for supporting the paper and seeing it as an opportunity to help our community grow together. In the past year, our school already has grown immensely, in terms of school spirit, inclusion, and more. Regarding inclusion, I, along with Board, would like to recognize and thank the school for its demonstration of support for the transgender community. We are so pleased to know that we live in a community that encourages everyone to be as open as they want to be in our community. To my fellow seniors: we’re heading into senior spring. Our days of glory draw closer and closer to an end each day, so make every moment count. I consider myself so lucky to have been a part of a class that made such a visible impact on campus and on the community in just one year. So keep your heads up, love each other, and make a memory out of every day you have left. We’re almost there! Much love to you, DA! Cheers, Bella Hutchins Editor-In-Chief

Deerfield students are stuck. We spend all week studying in the Pocumtuck Valley and have little opportunity to travel off campus each weekend. Yes, the administration provides shuttles to Greenfield on Friday evenings, but the scheduling forces students to either speed-eat dinners or spend hours at a local restaurant. Yes, students have the option to call local cab companies, but these cabs are often unreliable. Dean of Students Ms. Amie Creagh recently acknowledged this in a Daily Bulletin post: “Students are encountering problems with the taxi service in and out of Greenfield.  Security will not be able to offer rides, so please schedule your trip into town for another time.” Students should not be afraid to get stranded, so we need a better system. Perhaps the Student Planning Committee could coordinate more frequent bus trips or organize teacher driving volunteers. Also, reforming the no-car policy would allow students to go off campus and visit more than just Richardson’s or the Deerfield Inn. believes that day students should be allowed to drive boarding students of any age at any point in the year, like Brooks Academy students can. The fact that only senior day students can drive senior boarders for the final three months of the school year is unreasonable. If a new or improved system were put in place, students could visit local attractions and delicious restaurants in towns like Northampton and Amherst without paying $70 to an undependable taxi company. If the Deerfield administration trusts its students and wants them to explore areas outside of a colonial village, they should consider amending the Academy’s off campus policies and systems.