The Deerfield Scroll: February 3, 2016

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Vol. XC, No. 6

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Deerfield Academy, Deerfield, MA

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3 February 2016

DEERFIELD SETTLES 1980S SEXUAL ASSAULT SUIT FOR $500,000 //ETHAN THAYUMANAVAN Associate Editor On Tuesday, January 12, 2016, Deerfield Academy agreed to pay $500,000 to settle a sexual abuse lawsuit filed by a former Deerfield student.

The victim, who has chosen to remain anonymous, claimed that on more than one occasion after sporting events, two former coaches left him with English teacher Bryce Lambert, who allegedly sexually assaulted him. No criminal charges have been brought against the two coaches or against Bryce Lambert, who died in 2007. However, the lawsuit named the two former coaches, in addition to Deerfield Academy, as defendants.

The alleged abuse occurred during the plaintiff’s time at Deerfield between 1983 and 1985, when he was between the ages of 15 and 17, according to his attorney, Mitchell Garabedian, a lawyer who specializes in cases of sexual abuse. Garabedian filed a civil suit on behalf of his client.

According to Garabedian, “In a civil case, the plaintiff is looking for monetary damage.

In a criminal case, the victim is looking to put criminal sanctions against the defendant, such as putting the defendant in jail. In both instances, victims of sexual abuse want to try to heal, and they try to use the legal system

as a vehicle to heal, in order to try to gain a degree of closure.”

In 2013, after evidence of a similar incident came to light, Philip Greer, the former President of the Board of Trustees, and Head Of School Dr. Margarita Curtis released a statement acknowledging that another former faculty member, Peter Hindle, had abused former student Whit Sheppard. The statement read, “While the reported behavior occurred many years ago, we recognize that it continues to cause great pain. There is no greater violation of our values than broken trust between student and teacher.”

In a 2013 article about his experience published in The Boston Globe, Mr. Sheppard wrote, “[Dr. Curtis] displayed a clear moral authority and offered unconditional support from the start.” Dr. Curtis also flew down to Mr. Sheppard’s home, where, according to Mr. Sheppard, “she offered a sincere and heartfelt apology on behalf of the school. Her’s was the first acknowledgement I had ever received that the school bore some measure of responsibility for my troubling experience there.”

In 2013, after the current school administration was informed of the events involving Mr. Sheppard, the Academy hired an independent investigator to look into the circumstances. He confirmed Mr. Sheppard’s allegations against Hindle and also discovered that Mr. Lambert had sexually abused two students during his time at Deerfield. In June

“DAMAGES TO A SEXUAL ABUSE VICTIM ARE ONGOING AND EVERLASTING.” -MR. GARABEDIAN, THE VICTIM’S LAWYER

CREAGH OFFERS DC TRANSPARENCY

ke Ho ro wi tch

After last spring’s disciplinary rule changes regarding drugs and alcohol, Dean of Students Amie Creagh has put forth increased efforts to make the internal decision processes of the Disciplinary Committee (DC) more accessible and transparent to the community by organizing information sessions each term.

At a recent DC information session, Ms. Creagh covered how a DC committee hearing works and gave a general review of disciplinary decisions from this academic year in hopes of elucidating the facts associated with each case and generating more student trust of the DC. The DC committee is comprised of the Dean of Students, Ms. Creagh, who chairs the committee and presents the case, a Class Dean, three students, and two faculty members. The committee convenes when students are suspected of violating a major school rule. The students have the option of selecting community members to serve as their advocate during the hearing.

After the Committee has established the facts of the case by speaking with the student and anyone else involved, the students and advocates leave the hearing. After evaluating the evidence, the Committee decides by majority vote whether a major school rule has been broken. If a school rule is found to be broken, possible responses include probation, suspension, enrollment review, and expulsion. It is important to note that the Dean of Students only votes in the case of a tie, which, according to Ms. Creagh, has rarely occurred in DC hearings.

At the information session, Ms. Creagh summarized the cases that occurred from September 2015 to December 2015, including only a brief description of the events and the responses in order to protect student privacy.

As Ms. Creagh’s presentation at the meeting drew to a close, students asked questions about why Ms. Creagh had decided

to implement these sessions. Ms. Creagh responded that she “wanted to be seen as trusting in students” and “as being fair and not hiding things from kids.” She continued that she “cares about students and feels like they are mature enough to have a candid conversation about all the very complicated factors that go into crafting a response for a student when he or Brooke Horowitch she makes mistakes.”

She emphasized that the purpose of the DC is to not simply “punish” students for a particular mistake, but to allow them to think through their actions and learn from their mistakes. “I think mistakes are wonderful things,” she said, “If you respond to them correctly [and] if you have good guidance and support.”

Understanding that there were rumors and confusion about the disciplinary process, Ms. Creagh asserted that her goal was to let “every Deerfield kid have the opportunity to get as much information as possible about the DC workings” as well as “to dispel and demystify some rumors that lead to students feeling that it’s unfair, rigged, and not representative of school values.”

She hopes “to see greater fact ripple through community than the fiction that has permeated after most other hearings.” She closed the session by asking the students about what they thought and said she hopes to “keep at this” and is “wide open to guidance and advice about how best to equip students with facts, so that when they make judgments about how DC works, it’s at least based on reality.”

Br oo

//KAREN TAI Associate Editor

2015, one of these students brought a civil suit against Deerfield Academy—this is the suit that Deerfield has just recently paid $500,000 to settle.

Mr. Garabedian said, “My client felt validated by the settlement amount of $500,000. He also felt that the world should know about this settlement so that institutions such as Deerfield would feel the need or the pressure to watch children, to take care of children, and to supervise children properly.”

He added that “the damages to a sexual abuse victim are ongoing and everlasting.”

Mr. Garabedian also represents another former Deerfield student, Moss Krivin, who claims that he was sexually abused by Hindle.

Krivin, a Deerfield student from 1979 to 1981, filed a $40 million lawsuit on Tuesday, January 26, 2016, that names Hindle and three unnamed “John Doe” defendants. Krivin is not suing the school; he is suing four individuals, including Peter Hindle, who were employees of Deerfield at the time of the incident.

The text of the suit states, “Defendant Peter Hindle engaged in explicit sexual behavior and lewd and lascivious conduct with the Plaintiff…all for the purposes of Defendant Peter Hindle’s sexual gratification.” The suit alleges that as a result of the incident, Krivin continues to suffer from “emotional distress and physical harm,” which includes thoughts of suicide, depression, sadness, anger, anxiety, sleep disorder, and panic attacks, and claims “financial expenses for medical

and therapeutic care and treatment; long term lost earning capacity; as well as other damages.”

In August 2013, after Sheppard’s claim was investigated, the Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan launched an investigation into Hindle’s actions, concluding that it was too late to pursue criminal charges against him, because the statute of limitations had expired.

Dr. Curtis stated that in order to prevent sexual abuse from occurring again on Deerfield’s campus, Deerfield has strengthened internal procedures by subjecting the employee and student handbooks “to a comprehensive review” and by establishing an Employee Code of Conduct, which outlines expectations for adult-student interactions. Employees receive annual training on the Employee Code of Conduct and annual boundary training aimed at facilitating healthy student-teacher relationships.

In addition to updating school policies on sexual harassment and misconduct, Deerfield also removed Hindle’s name from the Deerfield squash courts and changed the name of a fund and a fellowship originally named for Lambert.

Dr. Curtis also stated, “The Academy empathizes with survivors of abuse, and we seek to respond with compassion and understanding.” She added, “We believe that forthrightness and fairness is the best way to show respect for the survivors, and to improve safety for students, now and in the future.”

“...WE SEEK TO RESPOND WITH COMPASSION AND UNDERSTANDING.” -DR. CURTIS

DR. CURTIS OVERSEAS: INDIA //CAMILLE MOECKEL Associate Editor Head of School Dr. Margarita Curtis recently returned from her first trip to India. Young alumnus, Rahul Mehra ’03, who lives and works in Mumbai, helped facilitate the visit, as Dr. Curtis hopes to establish relationships with Indian secondary schools and publicize the full Deerfield scholarship available to one Indian student. This competitive scholarship was made possible by alumnus Reza Ali ’87 and will be awarded to a student on the basis of a student’s academic standards and contributions to co-curricular programs.

Dr. Curtis met with the heads of some of Mumbai and Delhi’s premier schools, visited with top administrators of the recently founded Ashoka University in Delhi, and attended the XVII Global Connections Seminar hosted by Daly College, a secondary school in Indore.

“It is my hope that my face-toface interactions and discussions with distinguished Indian educators, as well as the availability of this scholarship, will allow us to gain a stronger presence in the country, which is the second most populous nation in the world, and the largest democracy,” Dr. Curtis said. She noted that currently, DA receives “few applications from India. For historical reasons, Indian students apply almost exclusively to boarding schools in the UK.” Ms. Pamela Safford, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, elaborated, “Because this is a new initiative, in the current year we are both promoting this opportunity within schools as well as developing a process by which we will ultimately identify, assess and select scholarship candidates. Dr. Curtis’s trip is well-timed, therefore, as we expect that she will have learned a lot about the ‘appetite’ for such an opportunity, as well as, perhaps, about possible future candidates.”

Dr. Curtis participated in the Indian Global Connections Seminar from January 12-19, a conference she has also attended in Thailand, South Africa, and Colombia, where she focused on “Peace Education within Faith Diversity.” The seminar encourages school leaders worldwide to develop global consciousness and to promote international cooperation in their schools. Dr. Curtis is following the lead of Eric Widmer, her predecessor, who played a major role in the establishment of the organization and attended some of the earlier seminars.

In the past, Dr. Curtis has visited several Asian countries, including Korea and China, where she travels annually in order to speak with alumni and to raise funds. Reflecting on what made he trip to India unique, Dr. Curtis noted, “The most striking feature, as I have traveled through the South and the North, including a week-long train trip through the state of Rajasthan, is the enormous cultural, religious and linguistic diversity of the country—22 official languages and more than a thousand dialects are spoken in India, so English is the Lingua Franca of the country,” she said. “As you drive through different cities, it is not unusual to see a mosque next to a Hindu temple or a Christian church, and everyone I spoke with, from cab drivers, museum guides to educators took pride in this diversity.”

In addition to her week long trip through the country, Dr. Curtis visited the house where Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in 1947, a trip she described as especially meaningful.

“Gandhi’s principle of nonviolence and peaceful resistance—powerful instruments in the struggle for social justice, and the liberation of India from British rule— reminded me of the impact of this philosophy on another world leader, Dr. King,” she said.

Vol. XC, No. 6

3 February 2016

editor-in-chief BELLA HUTCHINS online editor managing editor william ughetta brooke horowitch front page editor josh tebeau

online associate editor freddie johnson

opinion & editorial editor caroline fett

online content editor virginia murphy

features editor julia dixon

layout associate editor alex guo

arts & entertainment editor maggie yin

photography associate editor valerie ma

sports editor david darling spread editor dane scott layout editor ashley wang photography editor gwyneth hochhausler graphics editor rachel yao distribution manager justin hsu video editor emily yue

graphics associate editor tia jonsson social media editor elizabeth tiemann associate editors vaish gajaraj camille moeckel richard park ethan thayumanavan nia goodridge liam jeon perry hamm karen tai senior writers katherine heaney maddie moon felix schliemann yasmine deswandhy

advisors julianne schloat, carrie brown, and john gregory brown The Deerfield Scroll, established in 1925, is the official student newspaper of Deerfield Academy. The Scroll encourages informed discussion of pertinent issues that concern the Academy and the world. Signed letters to the editor that express legitimate opinions are welcomed. We hold the right to edit for brevity. The Scroll is published eight times yearly and is uncensored.

Opinion articles with contributors’ names attached represent the views of the respective writers. Opinion articles without names represent the consensus views of the editorial staff.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT DEERFIELD Have you ever wanted to start your own business? To pursue a passion, market it, and pocket a profit? There are many Deerfield students who would love to do just that. And we’ve all heard the age-old spiel about how intelligent and motivated Deerfield students can be. The issue is not with capability, but rather with permission. Here at the Academy, there are rules against students making a profit off of their peers. While a spokesman from the administration noted that the school supports students raising funds that promote a common good, students are not allowed to pursue personal profit.

Here at The Scroll, we see a serious issue with this rule. Deerfield prides itself on being an academic institution that gives its students the opportunity to explore their passions. The option of taking a sixth academic course, the wide variety of spring electives offered to seniors, the independent study program, the ability to petition for a co-curricular exemption, and the array of extracurricular clubs and activities offered here at Deerfield are all proof of that. Why, then, does Deerfield not support students eager to turn their passions into profit?

This January, Deerfield hosted an event called Pathways, where eight alumni shared their stories with upperclassmen students. Two of these alumni were entrepreneurs who spoke very fondly of their experience in founding and running their own businesses. The Scroll board sees a lack of consistency in the fact that the school brought in these entrepreneurs to share their stories with us, yet discourages us from pursuing similar ambitions while at school.

We here at The Scroll are calling for a change in this policy. We believe that Deerfield students should be allowed to follow their passions in any way they wish. If this means pursuing a personal profit, then props to them.

MENTAL ILLNESS AT DEERFIELD //SAOIRSE KENNEDY-HILL Contributing Writer When you were little, did you ever have friends your mom made you hang out with, even though you didn’t want to? Then those friends kept showing up, and you were confused and sick of them. Soon enough, those friends were around so much that you got used to them.

Finally, those friends were always with you and never left, and you almost began to enjoy having them around.

Until last year, this was my relationship with my mental illness.

My depression took root in the beginning of my middle school years and will be with me for the rest of my life. Although I was mostly a happy child, I suffered bouts of deep sadness that felt like a heavy boulder on my chest. These bouts would come and go, but they did not outwardly affect me until I was a new sophomore at Deerfield.

We all know that some people find winter at Deerfield lonely, dark, and long. I began isolating myself in my room, pulling away from my relationships, and giving up on schoolwork. During the last few weeks of spring term, my sadness

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OPINION

surrounded me constantly. But that summer after my sophomore year, my friend depression rarely came around anymore, and I was thankful for her absence.

Two weeks before my junior year began, however, my friend came back and planned to stay.

My sense of well-being was already compromised, and I totally lost it after someone I knew and loved broke serious sexual boundaries with me. I did the worst thing a victim can do, and I pretended it hadn’t happened. This all became too much, and I attempted to take my own life.

I returned to school for the fall of my junior year, but I realized that I could not handle the stresses Deerfield presented. I went to treatment for my depression and returned to the valley for my senior year.

Coming back from medical leave was definitely not what I expected.

I saw a stark contrast between my treatment facility—a place full of aware and accepting people— and my experience at Deerfield.

Although my friends were extremely supportive, they seemed to be the only ones who knew what had been going on in my life for the past year.

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Dear Reader, Our lead story for this issue focuses on sexual assault cases involving students and teachers at DA that occurred several years ago. I feel the utmost grief and sympathy for the victims in these cases, and I offer my sincere hope that they can find a way to heal.

Incidents of sexual abuse are traumatic and tragic, yet a school like DA can also be a place of wonderful relationships between students and teachers.

Appropriately close student-teacher relationships can impact a student in

countless positive ways, and I hope that learning about incidents such as those that occurred at DA in the 1980s do not deter students from seeking out adults in the community in whom they can find a friend. It’s worth noting the political, social, and most of all, moral perspectives that some of my teachers here, such as Ms. Friends and Mr. Henry, have taught me, whether that be in or outside of the classroom setting.

From Ms. Friends, I’ve learned patience, confidence, and forgiveness.

From Mr. Henry, compassion, concern for others, and resilience. I urge you, reader, to seek out relationships like

these, because I believe they are a crucial part of the Deerfield experience.

I know that a few teachers here at DA have pushed me to question my views and to think hard about what I support and what I stand for; for that, I am immeasurably grateful.

Despite how lucky I feel to have had such influential teachers, it is important that we keep those who have had difficult experiences with their teachers, either here or elsewhere, in our thoughts and prayers.

All the best, Bella Hutchins

WHERE’S THE ASIAN IN BLACK AND WHITE? //KAREN TAI Associate Editor This year, during the weeks leading up to Martin Luther King day, conversations about racial issues ignited within the community. Race is complicated, especially for those who don’t fit into the black and white binary that usually frames conversations about race in this country. For Asian Americans, discussion of the inequality and discrimination of colored people often leads to frustration and silence.

Race is complex for Asian Americans. On one hand, we’re disadvantaged in many ways. We’re perpetually seen as foreigners, as people who don’t belong here. Our successes are often attributed to our race instead of talent or hard work. We’re walked over in social and professional situations, openly mocked. We’re reduced to stereotypes, with women hyper-sexualized and men emasculated. Tens of thousands of Asian Americans, in a stunning violation of their constitutional rights, were forcibly removed from their homes, communities, jobs, and possessions and relocated to internment camps during World War II, and then released back into society, years later, with nothing.

We’ve been victims of hate crimes from vandalism to murder. Like all people of color in the U.S., Asian Americans have been consistent targets of individual and systemic racism.

But as Asian Americans, we Dr. Josh Relin, Director of Counseling at Deerfield, has explained to me that federal laws designed to protect patient privacy constrain what information can be shared in workplaces and schools. “There is a strong firewall between what happens in the Health Center and the other adults in the community due to HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act),” he said.

“This law determines how health information can and cannot be shared.”

HIPAA was designed to protect patient privacy, yet in my experience, it left me feeling very much alone.

I didn’t care that students thought that I had left because of an eating disorder, or that I had been bullied, but it concerned me that my teachers and advisors didn’t know what I had been going through.

Even though it was helpful for me to discuss my struggles with all of those important people in my life, it was still uncomfortable, and it was hard for me to take the initiative. In the future, I hope that the Health Center reaches out to students before they return from medical leave in order to discuss how the school can make their adjustment back to Deerfield less difficult. If

also have certain privileges. People generally assume that we’re smart and hardworking, which is reductive but infinitely preferable to people assuming the opposite.

We’re assumed to be reliable people and responsible citizens, not troublemakers. Teachers and police officers tend to believe the best about us and not to suspect or fear us.

So when a conversation about race is framed in black and white terms—which, in this country, is the case more often than not—it’s not always clear with whom we should be identifying. We don’t have the same disadvantages or the same history of oppression as black people, but neither are we as fully accepted as white people. Our experiences don’t always clearly dictate the side to which we belong.

Because of this, discussions about people of color often leave Asian Americans feeling left out, and we’re silent in response.

This tendency to remain silent is somewhat cultural. Asian cultures strongly value harmony and not creating conflict. Thus, even in the face of discrimination and controversial events, even when we ourselves are the victims of wrongdoing, many Asian Americans tend to remain silent.

This tendency is exacerbated by the fact that more than 90% of Asian Americans are immigrants or children of immigrants—people shaped by an immigrant mindset of keeping your head down and mouth shut, even if circumstances are terrible. Asian Americans want to be welcomed and accepted here, and complaining usually creates the

opposite response, even if those complaints are warranted.

An additional complication is the erroneous belief that Asians have been more successful in America than other races because of inherent positive qualities such as natural talent in math and science, an obsession with academics, and a strong work ethic.

For Asian Americans, being active about issues of race often means swimming against a strong current.

People’s responses vary considerably, of course, but considering all of these factors—the cultural value of not causing a stir, the immigrant attitudes of looking out for ourselves and wanting to be accepted—there are valid reasons why Asian Americans don’t usually speak up on the topic of racial inequality.

Through the years, the AsianAmerican experience of racially motivated legal exclusion, disenfranchisement, and horrific violence–commonalities with the African American experience that have been rallying points in demanding racial equality– has been erased from the public consciousness. It’s easy to say the Civil Rights movement was entirely black and white, but the term “people of color” means so much more. As the community continues to address the pervasive inequality among people of color that still exists, I urge everyone to include the experiences of all people— Asians, African-Americans, Latinos, and anyone who has experienced discrimination—no matter how small their voice.

they had reached out to me, I would have let them know that I wanted my circumstances shared with my teachers and advisors before I returned to campus; this would have made my transition back a lot easier.

Deerfield is one of the top educational institutions in the country, yet no one seems to know how to talk about mental illness.

People talk about cancer freely; why is it so difficult to discuss the effects of depression, bi-polar, anxiety, or schizophrenic disorders?

Just because the illness may not be outwardly visible doesn’t mean the person suffering from it isn’t struggling. I have experienced a lot of stigma surrounding mental health on Deerfield’s campus. As students, we have the power to end that immediately. Stigma places blame on the person suffering from the illness and makes them ashamed to talk openly about what they’re going through.

Teachers and students on our campus can do their best to be more aware when discussing mental health issues. If someone says they’re feeling depressed, a good way to respond would be, “What are some other things you’re feeling?

What do you think has brought this on?” If you don’t feel comfortable

saying either of those, say, “I don’t understand what you’re going through, but I am here for support.”

Too often, people speak before they think, and that can damage the trust in a relationship. If someone confides in you, try not to say, “It’s all in your mind,” or “lighten up,” or, my personal favorite, “Happiness is a choice.” No, it’s really not. When I’m in a really bad place, I do my best to surround myself with positive people and upbeat music, but too often it feels as if I’m drowning in my own thoughts, while everyone else seems to be breathing comfortably.

Many people are suffering, but because many people feel uncomfortable talking about it, no one is aware of the sufferers.

This leaves people feeling even more alone. Since I spoke about this issue at school meeting, I have had countless people approach me, telling me that they, too, are struggling and would love to be more open about it. I am calling all members of the Deerfield community to come forward and talk freely about mental health issues. We are all either struggling or know someone who is battling an illness; let’s come together to make our community more inclusive and comfortable.

3 February 2016

The Deerfield Scroll

THE INFLUENCE & IMPORTANCE OF

LGBTQ FACULTY

Rachel Yao

“IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF EQUALITY” //MICHAEL BEIT ’15 Contributing Alumnus If Deerfield is lacking in anything, it is not support systems. As an underclassmen, you have at least two proctors on your hall, a faculty resident, an advisor, peer counselors, your class dean, and basically all your teachers and curricular faculty, not to mention Deerfield’s more formal mental health support system. As an upperclassmen, this diminishes slightly, but is for most intents and purposes the same. From what I have gathered, this works fairly well for the vast majority of people, which is great and a considerable accomplishment on the part of those involved.

When I was a student, I felt that the system worked to support me academically, artistically, as a leader in the community, and even just socially. But it would be inaccurate and irresponsible to say that a proper support system for LGBTQ students existed when I was at Deerfield. The issue, though, is not “the culture,” which people have a tendency to blame things on at Deerfield, and there are some concrete ways to actually improve this system to be more inclusive.

By no means do I mean to say that there are not individuals on the Deerfield campus who can be extremely helpful in supporting and assisting LGBTQ students. Some nonLGBTQ faculty were very helpful at Deerfield.

For me personally, that was Ms. Liske, Mr. Henry, and Mrs. Hynds, among others. But the lack of a more formal system problem has several key components.

The first and perhaps most glaringly obvious issue is that Deerfield needs more LGBTQ faculty. I have written to certain individuals on campus about this issue, but my concerns were dismissed, so perhaps I am missing some large piece of information as to why exactly this is the case. An additional issue is retention of LGBTQ faculty members, but a similar problem is seen among other groups of minority faculty. It is rather complex, and perhaps could be better explained by some member who was actually a former LGBTQ faculty member at Deerfield.

Somebody might reply to my concerns by asking why exactly it is necessary to have LGBTQ faculty. Why can’t everybody be a support system like Mrs. Hynds or Ms. Liske or Mr. Henry through some form of developed empathy? Well, we can all try our best to emulate Frank Henry, but that is another question entirely. I have found from my own experiences, when I needed somebody to talk to at Deerfield about LGBTQ issues, I needed much more than just somebody to listen. I needed somebody to respond, agree, disagree, give me their own opinion, and somebody who is actually LGBTQ will have greater capacity to do so.

Jael Hernandez and Eve Goldenberg were able to be these figures, and for that I am extremely grateful. As I said in my goingaway speech to Mr. Hernandez, my only wish

was that I could have had a faculty member like him when I was a younger student at Deerfield. Coming out functionally on my own was extremely difficult, and was a kind of unnecessary and painful experience I wouldn’t want any other student to go through.

Another important facet of the support system are older student role models. The truth is that I never found a LGBTQ role model at Deerfield, and only once I was a senior did I find one off-campus back home in New York.

This issue is exceedingly more complicated though, as it requires out, LGBTQ seniors.

When I first came back to Deerfield from my year abroad, there was one out student-- me.

When I graduated, numerous other laudable members of the community also came out and they became part of a support system, beyond what I had imagined was possible when I was a sophomore and prospects looked pretty bleak.

A problem with the situation was that if closeted students were put off by me for whatever reason—they did not like me or found me threatening or too “gay” or whatever—then there was no alternative for them. I always felt that I had failed in this way as a leader, because I could only ever be one person, and these students had nobody else to go to.

I have spent enough time outside Deerfield and met enough people who were closeted through prep-school years to know that there is a need for this kind of support system, even if that need is not always obvious.

Mr. Hernandez and other LGBTQ faculty are invaluable resources to Deerfield. I very likely would have left Deerfield, if it were not for their assistance. Unfortunately it does not seem that all students are able to access the kind of support I found. Mr. Hernandez and I never had any formal interaction (class, cocurricular, dorm). It was only because we were two openly gay males on campus that we got in contact. Otherwise, it was very likely I would have never talked to him at length.

Sometimes talking was just the simple stuff I have a crush, crush does not reciprocate, and repeat to infinity. Sometimes it was more complicated Do I mention my LGBTQ advocacy work on my resume? We have systems to deal with almost every other kind of student support issue, so it would only make sense to include LGBTQ students.

Will the world fall apart if we do not? Most likely not, as LGBTQ people have endured life in the closet since the dawn of widespread, cultural homophobia (yes, the entire world did not always hate gay people). However, it is only a matter of equality that LGBTQ students are provided enough personal support so that they can reach their highest levels of achievement in academic and nonacademic spheres.

THE GRAY ZONE: A PERSONAL STORY //LYNN VALLE Contributing Writer

Senior Leadership Gifts Officer At DA Labels—of nearly any kind—make me squicky. (That’s a word, right?) I’ve never liked being asked to name a favorite color, food, number, etc., and I’ve never responded consistently to the question of how I identify on the LGBTQ spectrum I don’t even use the terms “wife” or “partner” confidently, and I’ve been married for 10 years. I would assume this aversion relates directly to my having been raised by parents who strongly identify as religious fundamentalists—bornagain Christians, specifically—and to my having rejected that rigidity at a young age.

My own fractured view of our church started in middle school. Our parish became a political one protesting abortion clinics, hosting members of the Christian Coalition who preached about the abomination that was adding protections for LGBT peoples (no “Q” then) to the state’s hate crime bill and adopting a simplistic definition of “right” and “wrong” (despite the fact that our congregation was made up of fallible adults). Even as I designed my own moral compass, I assumed the answers had to be more complicated.

I came out-ish in high school. I was quiet and unsure and had a difficult time finding my place in my public high school’s closed social groups. Though I joined teams and participated in after-school activities, I hadn’t found my niche, my weekend friends.

And then I met Lauren. She was outgoing and confident, had an entrenched group of quirky friends, and seemed to like me enough to continue asking me to be a part of that group. Soon, we developed feelings for one another. Before I had a chance to figure out who I was or what we were (and whether or not it was disingenuous to remain an “ally” in my school’s GSA), my brother outed me to my parents. There was a dramatic sit-down at the kitchen table, my parents repeating over and over again that they loved me but that they couldn’t support my choices. They wouldn’t let me get up from the table until I agreed that I knew I was going to hell. To be worn down—by your own parents, no less—and agree to a fate you don’t yourself believe…I wish that experience on no one.

That period of time was awful I was criticized for the clothes I wore, interrogated about where I was going and who I was seeing (with the assumption that every friend was a new love interest), and bullied about my choice of prospective colleges when I excitedly applied to Smith, my father said, “You know that’s a lesbian school, right?” While my parents didn’t forbid my relationship with Lauren, they made it difficult for it to continue.

Valeria Ma

VOICES OF CURRENT LGBTQ FACULTY //NIA GOODRIDGE Associate Editor

In Deerfield’s quest to increase diversity on campus, students often forget this effort should extend toward the faculty and staff too. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) faculty and staff make up a small portion of the adults at DA. They want to act as support systems for students who may be struggling with LGBTQ issues.

Math Teacher Mr. Joe Grimm, who identifies as bi, stated, “I do hope that I am perceived as available here. The general part of being in the gender sexuality minority is being invisible.”

Despite coming from diverse backgrounds, many LGBTQ faculty and staff believe that what makes Deerfield special is its acceptance.

Dean of Advancement Mr. Christopher Menard, who identifies as gay, said, “I can honestly say I have not knowingly experienced any form of discrimination or any other problem here because of being gay.” Mrs. Lynn Valle, Senior Leadership Girls Officer, who identifies as gay, agreed “My employment and benefits look exactly the

same as anyone else under the marriage category.” Mr. Menard added, “On a day to day basis, I don’t think there is a difference in the treatment of gay men or gay women here.”

Many have noticed the recent emphasis of inclusion and diversity on campus, and some LGBTQ faculty members note the remarkable support of the administration. Mrs. Valle, who left Deerfield in 2005 and came back to work at Deerfield in the fall of 2015, is astonished by the change in the community “Issues of inclusivity and diversity matter to me much more than my own representation in the community. I am happy to see that faculty and staff have become significantly more diverse in the last five or ten years than any other time in Deerfield’s history.”

She attributes this change in culture to the hiring of Ms. Marjorie Young as the Director of Inclusion & Community Life in 2013 and the constant support of her adult peers.

Athletic trainer Rob Kearney broke boundaries by coming out a year ago, becoming the first openly gay professional strongman. Mr. Kearney received media attention and subsequently witnessed a wave

of support from the community. He talked about the students who came to congratulate him after they heard, how “everyone was really supportive and excited for me”.

However, many faculty and staff would like to see more of this kind of support extended to students. Mr. Grimm remarked, “It feels like it is easier to be out as a faculty member than a student, which I find really upsetting.”

Even with all this representation in the faculty and staff, LGBTQ students are sometimes unaware of the support available to them.

Working as the GSA advisor in 2008, Ms. Valle’s experiences with the group showed her “how important it is for adults in the community to identify themselves to all students.” Mr. Kearney added, “If I had that person I could confide in, it would have changed my life from an earlier age.” Although LGBTQ faculty and staff experiences are different than those of students today, Mr. Grimm believes, “There is value in knowing that you’re not alone.”

Generally, the biggest challenges faced

by LGBTQ faculty and staff are assumption mentality—when others assume things about their peers based on stereotypes— and the lack of a gay community on campus.

To combat assumption mentality, Mrs.

But then something … snapped. I started to see my parents as fearful people, individuals who were limited but doing their best. They came to their fundamentalism together to find order and clarity in a disordered world, both carrying complicated traumas from their pasts into their present. It was a belief system that worked for them, but it wasn’t for me.

Whether or not they knew it, the best gift my parents gave me was that of a wide community I had handfuls of wonderful adults in my life—grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, friends’ parents, teachers and mentors—from whom I could observe and distill down my own definitions of morality. I developed a world view that was much grayer than that of my parents’ black and white perspective.

Since high school, I have learned to parent my parents, to be consistent and fair, to be selectively vulnerable, to teach them how to treat an adult daughter. When I got engaged a decade ago, it was important to me to call them and give them the opportunity to join the celebration—they chose not to, but I felt rooted in the belief that my happiness wasn’t dependent on their support. When they didn’t attend my wedding, I cut off communication when they reached out to reestablish contact two years later, I set clear boundaries of what this new chapter would look like and how they were to treat my wife, Kristen.

They’ve made mistakes, and I’ve made corrections that they’ve accepted and adopted. My parents have decided that it’s more important to have me in their lives than not to, and vice versa. I’ve built a strong community of support among a chosen family of friends and neighbors, coworkers and acquaintances, people who validate my relationship and reflect my values. I’ve found a place for my parents within that community (and rely on plenty of friends for advice and solace when things go wrong). My parents have learned that I respect their value system, and they’ve demonstrated respect for mine.

It’s a work in progress, but not a reality I could have predicted when I was that 17 year old sitting at the kitchen table nearly 20 years ago.

Now, as Kristen and I look to expand our family, I wonder how receptive my parents will be to their grandchildren. I hold some small hope that they’ll be supportive, along with some realism/cynicism that they won’t.

Regardless, I know that our children will be nurtured by our community a loving group of aunts and uncles—and “aunts” and “uncles”—friends and teachers and at least one set of gleeful grandparents. Even if they opt out, I will carry forward the lesson of community that, intentionally or not, my parents instilled in me years ago. That can be the gift they give to their grandchildren.

CONTINUE FOLLOWING THE JOURNEY OF STRONGMAN ROB KEARNEY EXCLUSIVELY ONLINE Valle believes the community needs to “find the courage to share more about [themselves]” and help educate one another.

On a similar note, Mr. Menard mentioned another difficulty of living in the Deerfield community “The challenge for a gay adult in [this] community is that the community is so small. And for all our efforts of trying to integrate all the many groups, there are times when we draw fuel and subsistence from being with our own kind” Mr. Grimm agreed. “It is easier sometimes when you can find a group of people that are like you. The conversations I have had with other gay and lesbian faculty have felt a little more homelike.”

Some believe that the lack of a LGBTQ community on campus is what has led to many young gay faculty and staff members leaving Deerfield after a few short years. Mr. Menard suspects that these young faculty and or staff members “ are seeking that [gay] community I have been speaking of.” Despite this, the LGBTQ faculty and staff believe they are lucky to be in an environment like Deerfield. Mr. Menard summarized by declaring, “We are incredibly fortunate to live in an environment like this where we are free to be who we are.”

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FEATURES CAN DATING BE MORE THAN ‘NETFLIX AND CHILL’?

//HOLLIN HANAU Staff Writer

that message with those of healthy relationships. Be aware of the world around you Sexual assault does happen—particularly on college campuses—and it’s our job as a school to equip students with information and skills to help prevent them from being victims and passive

and all our requirements, it’s hard to do normal dating stuff, so we [resort] to the hookup culture, and couples At school meeting on Wednesday, tend to fall into that instead of solid January 11, Dean of Students Amie relationships.”

Coco Spagna Creagh shocked many students when Others attest to she raised concerns about a subject the infamous “Deerfield gender many at DA consider taboo—dating. divide” as one of the main factors It’s no secret that in that prevents Coco Spagna our community there relationships are limited options forming past for “dates,” a problem the level of a Ms. Creagh believes casual hookprevents students up.

Camden from gaining an Kelleher ’18 important high school noted, “There is a experience. pretty prominent “In the real world gender divide on people do [date],” campus, which Ms. Creagh said at generally leads School Meeting, “And to couples only that’s where you’re all staying together headed.” for a month or Many students two, because find dating at there isn’t really Deerfield to be almost a connection nonexistent and between the believe that Deerfield couple.”

Mimi DeLisser and Michael Hirsch snuggle on a Greer-date with some popcorn. relationships rarely In the past reach a point in which students call bystanders.” She added, “At the same year, the administration has taken themselves a couple. Although this time, we want to promote healthy steps to create more open common issue has not been much addressed relationships and the skills required rooms, hoping to create additional in recent years, Ms. Creagh noted that to build them. Knowing how to date spaces for people of all genders to the community has spent time this is one of those skills.” spend time together. While students year focusing on issues such as sexual Some students cite the high note the good intentions, many do assault, and believes it is important stress environment at Deerfield as a not feel the execution has helped to pair this topic with discussions of factor that forces the student body implement change. Katherine von relationships and dating. into a system of relationships often Weise ’17 explained, “The Crowe has “We had Cindy Pierce here referred to as the “hookup culture.” helped break the gender divide in the for sexual assault awareness and Celine Kim ’17 noted, “With the busy freshman grade, but not as much in prevention, and I want to balance schedules students have at Deerfield, returning grades, and has had little

DAFC SERVES UP CHANGE //MAYA HART Staff Writer

Many students consider The Deerfield Food Committee notoriously ineffective in improving the food at DA. Within the past year, however, the DAFC has managed to make changes that the community has greeted enthusiastically.

Elizabeth Swindell

Currently, the committee is working on having panckes in the Greer on Sunday afternoons, avocados in the Koch, Greek tart frozen yogurt and falafel in the Greer, and better Dining Hall burgers.

Along with these ideas-inprogress, the DAFC has already made several changes this year. They have brought “naughty cereal,” like Captain Crunch and Lucky Charms, to some Sunday brunches, Greer iced chais to the Koch, strawberry to-go cups and avocados to the Greer, and

//PERRY HAMM Associate Editor

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waffles and bacon back to breakfast.

The process of approving proposals can be difficult. “Making everyone happy and having such a tight food schedule are two huge factors in the challenges we face you have to give something up to make room for something new,” explained Head of Food Committee Katherine Goguen ’16.

Director of Food Services Mr. Michael McCarthy and Assitant Director, Brad Woodward lead the team of students and communicate directly with the kitchen and cafés.

Mr. McCarthy noted that in recent years, “Students are notably more knowledgeable about food.” He also explained that DAFC and the dining hall “strive to achieve a balance between... traditional DA foods, like chicken pot pie and apple crisp, while introducing new menu items such as the Greek chicken and pumpkin cake.”

Food Committee members continue to stress the importance of student feedback, which helps improve the overall dining experience at Deerfield.

impact on the dating culture, only on friendships.”

Fo l l o w i n g mM s . mC rea g h ’s announcement, Deerfield featured its first ever “date night” on Saturday, January 8. The environment was low pressure and intended to help students bond with their peers. A crowd pleaser film, “Star Wars,” was shown in the Hess Auditorium, and concessions such as popcorn, candy, and drinks were provided.

The feedback on campus from the “date night” has been very positive, and many students expressed excitement about the opportunity. Sophomore Brenna Hoar ’18 explained, “Date nights are a great way for students to spend time together in a way that resembles normal high school dating. There was a surprisingly large turnout, and hopefully more people [will] continue to attend date night in the future.”

For future date nights, students hope to see other styles of dates such as game nights, outdoor movie nights in the warmer months, and perhaps picnic style dinners.

Looking to the future, Ms. Creagh and the Weekend Activities Committee plan to make “Deerfield Date Night” a twice-a-month occurrence, allowing students opportunities to go on dates more frequently, whether it be a movie in the Hess, or perhaps dinner for two in the dining hall. Ms. Creagh shared how important the initiative is to her, saying, “I want to make it something of a graduation requirement… I’d like

our students to graduate with two years of lab science, and the math requirement, and, hey, you must know how to ask someone on a date, please.”

Von Weise noted that in order for these date nights to be successful, and for dating culture here at Deerfield to finally change, the students really have to buy in. While the student body is grateful for the administration’s active approach in creating a dating culture here at Deerfield, Von Weise explained, “The dating culture at Deerfield will be hard to change from a faculty stance … It can only really be changed if the students choose to do so.”

DA DREAM DATES “A romantic zamboni ride between the second and third period.” - Isabel Gilmore ’18 “A good old BYOM trip to cookies and cocoa.” - Olivia Jones ’18 “Give her your Greer card and let her go crazy in the Hitchcock.” - Tessa Mills ’17 “Taking my date up to the ‘Crowe’s Nest’ to enjoy the beautiful vista view of Johnson-Double Day.” - Frederick Boulton ’19 “A romantic inner tube drift down the Deerfield Rapids.” - Duncan Mackay ’17 “A ride in a horse drawn carriage down Main Street.” - Serena Ainslie ’16

CULTURAL EXCHANGE: PERU TO DA //SARAH JANE O’CONNOR Staff Writer This winter, students do not need to travel far to gain a new international perspective. Arianna Sanchez, a junior from Lima, Peru, recently arrived at the Deerfield campus for a month-long exchange facilitated by the Round Square program.

Ms. Anna Steim, English Teacher and member of the Global Studies Committee, explained, “Many of the schools with which Deerfield has an exchange relationship are Round Square schools King’s Academy in Jordan, Schule Schloss Salem in Germany, the Doon School in India, and Markham College in Peru.”

She describes Round Square as “a network of schools from around the world that share a belief in six IDEALS I n t e r n a t i o n a l i s m , l D e m o c ra c y, Environmentalism,XXAdventure, Leadership, and Service.”

Sanchez was inspired to come to Deerfield after hosting two exchange students from the U.S. and U.K. and

Maya Rajan

meeting two Deerfield students who worked on service projects sponsored by her school, Markham College.

She is excited to be in the U.S., where she wants to attend college, and she even gave up a month of her summer for the frigid Deerfield winter. Sanchez isn’t hesitant to admit that “the weather is cold compared to Peru.”

Despite the cold air outside, Sanchez has enjoyed her first two weeks at DA. Compared to her past educational experiences, she said, “Here, you feel a bigger sense of community because you live with these people.” Sanchez has enjoyed getting to know her peers, “especially the girls on the hall,” and also loves sit-down meals when she has the

opportunity to interact with students from different grade levels.

Outside of classes, Sanchez participates in community service for her co-curricular activity. She explained that her school in Peru placed a strong emphasis on service.

“We go to poor areas in Peru,” she said, “where we build houses for [citizens] and teach children basic English and Spanish.”

Sanchez was shocked to learn that this part of Massachusetts is “one of the poorest areas” in the state.

Here in the U.S., “the schools have computers and smart boards,” she said. “But in Peru, we had to build the school. It had one classroom and we had to build [it],” she explained.

In addition to service, Sanchez loves music and especially enjoys Mr. Van Eps’s ‘Composition Songwriting’ class, which she described as “very different and interesting,” since the music classes she has taken previously “were more focused on theory.”

Sanchez recommended that all DA students apply for Round Square.

“They shouldn’t be scared of change!” she said.

THE COMEBACK KIDS: HOME TO DA AFTER TERM AWAY

With the start of the new year, three students—Celia Hurvitt ’17, Caleb Friends ’16, and Lucas Galperín ’16— returned to campus after spending the fall semester away from DA. Hurvitt spent four months at the Maine Coast Semester at Chewonki, in Wiscasset, Maine. She lived in a cabin with seven other girls from schools around the country. She began each day at 6 30 a.m. with routine farm chores before breakfast. Her daily academic schedule was similar to that at DA, except for the frequent halfdays, when students either went on science and research-based field trips or participated in the work program, helping with campus upkeep and farm chores.

“The 42 of us, [students and faculty,] ran the campus,” Hurvitt said. “There was no maintenance staff—we were the maintenance staff.” The structure of the program contributed to a team atmosphere on

campus. She appreciated the sense of unity on the Chewonki campus, where common social divisions at DA, like age and gender, did not exist. She added that since most of the teachers were young, “there weren’t the same kind of divisions” as at DA. Hurvitt valued her time in Maine as a way to learn “skills not taught at Deerfield.” She had the opportunity to cut solar panels, live in a cabin, do farm chores, and grow her own food.

“I drank milk that I milked from a cow on the farm, “she said. “It’s cool being connected to your food like that.”

Her most significant experience was a two-day solo trip to the coast of the ocean. “I realized how much time I don’t spend alone,” she said. “It was overwhelming at first I didn’t want to do it.” But once she settled in, she began to appreciate being alone. “I realized it gave me [time] for the things I never get to do—I went swimming, [read, and] painted watercolors.”

Hurvitt also said her experience at Chewonki encouraged her to “seek

out more conversations with people and realize what a good conversation is.” Without a phone, and with computer access only for schoolwork in class, Hurvitt’s life at Chewonki was “very simple.” After four months “unplugged,” Hurvitt said she and her new friends at Chewonki “almost didn’t want [their phones] back,” when it came time to leave. “It was cool that everyone had made a really active choice to be there we weren’t distracted by outside things, so we all connected much more.”

Elliot Gilbert

While Hurvitt remained close to home, Caleb Friends ’16 and Lucas Galperin ’16 traveled abroad for

the semester. Friends and Galperin participated in the SYA China Semester program, making Beijing their home for four months. They both lived with host families and attended classes at Beijing Normal University’s Second Affiliated Upper Middle School.

Galperin said he had a “great relationship” with his host family and loved cooking with his host mom.

Friends agreed “My [host] dad was trying to learn English, so it was cool to be able to help him.”

Both boys enjoyed the big city atmosphere and ease of travel.

Galperin explained, “there was always stuff to do and places to explore.” For lunch, all the SYA students were free to wander the city and explore local restaurants. Friends and Galperin often enjoyed noodles and dumplings for lunch, although Galperin said, “Sometimes I kind of missed sit-down meals.”

The SYA students studied together on one floor of a middle school, and Friends noted the setup was slightly

“isolating” since it limited the SYA student’s interactions with the local teenagers. However, both boys enjoyed their classes.

Galperin explained that he spent two to three periods a day studying Chinese. He added, “It was obvious that from day one the Chinese classes were [emphasized]…the Chinese instruction was very high quality.”

On the weekends, Friends and Galperin had the opportunity to explore silk markets, attend soccer games, and “hang out with the locals at an internet café.” Friends found one trip to the Shan Xi province in Northern China for a week particularly interesting, because “not a lot of tourists travel to Shan Xi it was cool being the only Americans.”

While grateful for their experience in China, both were ready to return to the U.S. and life at DA. “It’s nice coming to back Deerfield and appreciating it more,” Galperin said. “There are so many things we take for granted here.”

The Deerfield Scroll

3 February 2016

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT WILLKOMMEN TO CABARET! //ETHAN THAYUMANAVAN Associate Editor The winter theatre production, Cabaret, is a thought-provoking musical set in 1930s Berlin, at the time when the Nazis were rising to power. The play takes place largely in a seedy nightclub called the Kit Kat Klub, and it follows the story of Cliff Bradshaw, a young American novelist (played by Liam Jeon ’17), who falls in love with the lead singer at the club, Sally Bowles (played by Lucy Binswanger ’17).

“At first, I thought the show was just about a girl singing in a nightclub and finding her love interest,” said ensemble member Penelope Hough ’17.

“But [Cabaret] really has a dark element that slowly reveals itself throughout the course of the musical.”

Deerfield’s production of the

Tony Award-winning play is codirected by Theatre Director Catriona Hynds and Theatre Teacher Katie Speed, but Ms. Hynds described the musical as “a collaboration between three different programs. It is music-heavy, it is dance-heavy, and it is acting-heavy—that’s just the way musicals are!”

Many adults, including Ms. Lipstadt, Ms. Clark, Mr. Jackson, Mr. Hynds, Mr. Van Eps, Ms. Whitcomb, Mr. Yager, Ms. Peters, and Mr. Laprade all help bring the show to life, each working

Rachel Yao

with the students on specific aspects of the production.

A challenge of having such a large production that showcases a cast of 37 people is that all members must be able to take on the three very distinct disciplines.

Kaycie Sweeney ’17, faced with the task of stagemanaging the show, thinks that the biggest challenge is the parallel rehearsals. She said, “You have to do acting plus music plus dancing all in the same co-curricular time slot, so we have to juggle all of that complex scheduling.”

Charlie Pink ’18 added, “I am not the strongest singer in the batch, but it’s really easy when we work with Ms. Lipstadt, because she gets us all in the right key.”

Besides the cast, Cabaret also features a pit band that will be positioned on stage during the show rather than in a “pit” like typical musical productions. The band consists of both students and professional

musicians hired from outside the school, who work during cocurricular time on the 30+ songs and numbers in the musical.

dynamic is refreshing and features the signature sarcasm and snark that all bands seem to possess.”

Ms. Hynds is eager to see this ambitious production, involving over 40 students, come together for the student body.

“When you join forces with all of the performing arts programs, it becomes s o m e t h i n g bigger and more collaborative, and that is so exciting,” she said. “It is also Gwyneth Hochhausler the first musical Valentina Connell ’16 and Liam Gong ’16 rehearse a scene. we have staged in Pit member Quentin the newly renovated Hess Center.”

Jeyaretnam ’16 said, “It feels as Students will be able to see if you’re playing in a professional the production come together pit band because everyone is on February 25th, on what Ms. of a very high level of musical Hynds promises will be “an talent.” He continued, “The band absolutely phenomenal night!”

TOPICS TUTORIAL Go to www.deerfieldscroll.com to read about Topics Tutorial, the highest level studio art class at DA, featuring only four students!

Rachel Yao

ARTIST OF THE ISSUE: KYLE FOX //TESSA MILLS Staff Writer During her freshman year at Summit High School in Bend, Oregon, Kyle Fox ’16 began taking art classes and joined the school’s dance team.

Since then, both art and dance have become incredibly important aspects of her life. “I always do one of those things when I’m stressed out or sad or angry. They’re good outlets for me,” she said.

This year, Fox is taking Topics: Post AP Studio Art with Mr. Dickinson. She occasionally struggles, she explained, because she is quite the perfectionist

deerfield.edu/photos

with her projects. “I’m very tedious with art. It takes me forever to finish stuff because I never think it’s done,” she said.

Art is “a bit more disciplined” than dance, according to Fox. She said, “Mr. D has pushed a lot out of me that I didn’t think I was capable of.”

As for dance, Fox recently

choreographed a hip-hop routine for the winter showcase to the songs “Slow Motion” by Trey Songz and “What Do You Mean”

by Justin Bieber. The dancers in her piece range from complete beginners to advanced dancers.

Coco Spagna ’16 said, “The first day of rehearsal, Kyle really put in perspective how everyone has to start somewhere, and that even though I was a beginner in an intermediate piece, it didn’t mean I couldn’t dance.”

Nhyira Asante ’16 commented on working with Fox, “It’s really fun. We laugh and joke around a lot in rehearsal but Kyle is really good at getting us to pay attention when we need to.”

Fox wants the dancers to embrace the fun side of being on stage by learning how to express themselves through the choreography. Asante said, “there’s a lot of room for everyone to incorporate their individual style into the moves which is amazing.”

Hip-hop is Fox’s main style of dance. As a new junior last year, she took dance as a co-curricular but decided not to continue with it, because “the dance program forces you to take all the styles.” She explained further, “I was taking jazz and ballet, and I really just couldn’t do it.” Fox enjoys hip-hop the most, because “it’s very freeing.”

Fox plans to continue dancing and doing art forever, but she does not see either having a role in her professional future. She said, “Dance is something that I would never want to turn into a stress inducing job. I love it too much as a stress reliever.” up becoming, she will always have dance and art to turn to.

Josie Meier

Hatty Wang Josie Meier

Kate Palmer

“QUESTION BRIDGE” OFFERS ANSWERS else listening. If we can create a video like Question Bridge: Deerfield Student and let people watch that, I think that would really make a huge impact on our community.”

Question Bridge: Black Males Many people cited the unique opened on January 10th as the format of the film as one of the third exhibit presented in the von most defining characteristics of the Auersperg Gallery this school exhibit. Ms. Taylor said, “I asked in year. As part of the school-wide my class, ‘How many of you have celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. ever seen a video installation?’ and Day, this video installation was the two people raised their hands. So result of a collaboration between it’s a first, and that’s something Deerfield and UMass Amherst’s to be proud of—we’re bringing a Museum of Contemporary Art, broader sense of what art can be.” where the exhibit can also be seen.

Ultimately, Question Bridge: By using videography as an art Black Males raises questions about form, the exhibit records race, gender, and stereotypes. conversations between black males Lucy Beimfohr ’17 in America. In 1969, said, “An important artist Chris Johnson thing I noticed about began the project, and the video content is by the end of the fourthat there is usually year working period, no consensus on Hank Willis Thomas, the answers to the Bayeté Ross Smith, questions. I think this and Kamal Sinclair lack of agreement had joined him. is purposeful…

Together, they They are all black gathered exchanges Hae June Lee and all male, but between 150 black The video installment in the von Auersperg Gallery will close March 4, 2016. each is one-of-amen of all ages and kind, with different backgrounds. These men were connected through conversation that could begin or experiences and opinions, and video cameras and discussed continue here but would have thus is bound to have a unique questions about dating women, more of a long-term impact.” answer to these questions. In fact, educational and financial realities, Arianne Evans ’16 visited the the only thing this whole group and strengths and weaknesses exhibit and commented on how does have in common is those exterior characteristics.” of the black community. Deerfield could adapt the question- two Ms. Hemphill concluded, “I Mr. Johnson said, “Not enough and-answer model to resolve issues has been done to represent a present in the school. A possible hope members of the Deerfield multi-faceted and self-determined way to do this, she said, would be community feel challenged to think representation of this demographic “setting up a booth somewhere about issues of race that they might ...This project brings the full and having a camera and [allowing] have not thought about before, no spectrum of what it means to be people to go in there and ask any matter what their backgrounds are. ‘black’ and ‘male’ in America to the question they want or think is an There is universal subject matter forefront. ‘Blackness’ ceases to be a issue at Deerfield, and anybody that is presented in this exhibit simple, monochromatic concept.” can come in and answer that freely that is important to grapple with Although this show was without feeling judged for someone for all of us, students and adults.”

//NADIA JO Staff Writer

introduced in conjunction with MLK Day, Director of the von Auersperg Gallery Lydia Hemphill emphasized the significance of the exhibit on its own. She said, “It’s a show unto itself that we want to be enjoyed and appreciated and discussed by the community at large, whether we had MLK Day celebration or not.”

Spanish and Visual Arts Teacher Mrs. Mercedes Taylor added, “I think the Office of Inclusion has made a special effort to bring sustainable dialogue into Deerfield, and how do you sustain dialogue about race, about identity, about gender? That’s what we hope we bring to the community: a

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SPORTS WE ROAST PIGS EVERY SPRING, CHOATE //KATHERINE HEANEY Senior Writer Nothing hurts more than losing to Choate.

Every year, each team plays Choate at least once, but the games we never want to lose are the ones on Choate Day. This fall, Deerfield’s JV teams clearly dominated, while Choate’s varsity teams got the best of us. This fall, Choate published an article in their student newspaper, The Choate News, about Deerfield Day and included statistics from previous years.

According to The Choate News on Choate Day, from 2000-2014 Deerfield’s fall teams have suffered 63% losses while only acquiring 30% wins and 7% ties.

These statistics were logged from five high profile sports varsity football, varsity girls soccer, varsity boys soccer, varsity volleyball, and varsity field hockey. To quote a boy from Choate’s senior class, as published in The Choate News, “We may need to invest in a new opponent sometime soon. D-Day is getting a bit sad. It’s like watching a car crash happen it’s horrible but you can’t look away.”

Indeed, our varsity fall athletic teams recently have been losing to Choate, but it hasn’t always been this way. Serena Ainslie ’16 attested, “Just because we’ve lost in recent years to Choate in the fall doesn’t mean that we haven’t had a competitive rivalry in the past 116 years. My cousins went here in the late 1990s, when we used to kill

Choate in every sport.”

Over the past 15 years, Deerfield has shown its spring athletic supremacy over Choate. As Zeke Emerson ’16, captain of the varsity football team, said, “Obviously, it’s been a tough past few years against Choate for the football team, but it’s always good to look forward to the other seasons, where we’ve seen much more success.”

Although in the fall the Boars have been dominating Choate Day, what would a spring Choate Day look like? Many students want to create a Spring Choate Day to continue the tradition of a rival day and provide another opportunity for spectators to watch athletes perform Nina McGowan ’16, a member of the varsity lacrosse team, commented, “I think having a spring Choate Day would intensify the rivalry because the games would be much more competitive.” The results from DA vs. Choate spring sports show that Deerfield clearly dominates over Choate, winning a total of 69% of games while only losing 31%.

These percentages are from seven varsity sports varsity boys baseball (6-8), varsity boys lacrosse (15-1), varsity girls lacrosse (8-8), varsity girls softball (7-8), varsity girls tennis (14-2), varsity boys tennis (13-3) and varsity golf (9-2).

Deerfield’s record against Choate in spring matches over the past 15 years is 72-32. Choate’s spring teams don’t stand a chance. Last year, Deerfield swept Choate in every sport except one.

AN OLYMPIAN AMONG US: MADISEN SIEGEL //ALLI NORRIS Staff Writer

Madison Siegal

The 2015 Pan American Maccabi Games, also known as “the Jewish Olympics,” were held in Santiago, Chile this winter from December 26th to January 4th. Deerfield swimmer Madisen Siegel ‘17 competed for the Unites States. “I first found out about Maccabi games online in early September.

The applications were due soon and they told us whether we qualified or not in November,” said Siegel.

Siegal spoke about the simplicity and uniform qualifications for joining the team, saying, “Because everyone’s official swim times are online, we didn’t have an actual tryout. The coach could compare our times via USA swimming and chose people that way.”

During those 10 days, over 3,000 athletes from 19 countries competed in 18 events.

Siegel represented Team USA in the youth swimming division. Out of the 11 events Siegel swam in, she received six medals. She earned gold medals in the 200m Freestyle Relay, the 200m Medley Relay, and the 400m Medley Relay. She also won bronze medals in the 100m Butterfly, the 50m Backstroke, and the 100m Backstroke. These achievements helped Team USA finish the games with more medals than any other country, followed closely by Chile.

Although these athletes competed against each other, the competition unified them through their shared religion. All attendees were self-identified Jews, and all denominations were represented. Siegel noted, “Despite the language barrier, Hebrew united us all.”

A Friday Shabbat Service was held during the competition. At Which all 3,000 athletes, in addition to coaches and other staff members, gathered to pray together. Also, 12 of the 19 countries were South American, so Siegel explained that it was “interesting to see Jews from an area of the world that is predominantly Catholic.”

At the Opening Ceremonies, all of the athletes came together to celebrate their athleticism and Judaism. Athletes swapped apparel to remember the moment. “The USA apparel was really popular. Everyone wanted some of it,” Siegel remembered. She traded for a jacket from Costa Rica, a swim cap from Brazil, and a hat from Israel.

For the last four days of the trip, all of the athletes took part in a service project to benefit the surrounding community in Chile.

Team USA packaged food and other supplies for underprivileged families in the city of Santiago to try to counter the lack of welfare services from the government.

DSPN

NO SNOW FOR SKI TEAM...NO PROBLEM //JILLIAN CARROLL Staff Writer A lot of strong young talent joined Deerfield’s Alpine Ski Team this winter. Head Ski Coach William Chaffee has been coaching Alpine Ski at DA since 2013 and feels that this year’s team has “a bunch of outstanding skiers on both boys and girls teams.” Leading alongside Coach Chaffee are Math Teacher Mr. Marc Dancer and the team’s senior captains Nicole Piispanen, Hunter Quigg, and Jean-Pierre Torras.

At the Class A Championships last season, the girls finished in fifth place, while the boys finished in first. The boys team hopes to repeat that first p l a c e victory, and the girls intend to score even higher. With their goals set high and a lot of old and new energy on the team, the only thing missing is snow.

El Nino this winter has made for fluctuating temperatures and uncharacteristic weather patterns. Fortunately, the team has managed to not be slowed down by the lack of snow.

When asked about the challenges of not having enough snow, Piispanen remained optimistic and remarked that the team has “actually been coping with it pretty well” because they “only need one trail to be open, which is the race trail, and Berkshire East Mountain Resort always makes sure to keep its conditions pretty good.”

Located in the town of Charlemont, Berkshire East Mountain Resort, the team’s practice mountain, has one of the best

snowmaking facilities in New England, allowing the ski team to train consistently.

And even though Deerfield’s Alpine Ski Team has to share the slope, Piispanen said that the team “is used to splitting the trail with the other teams, so it hasn’t really been any more crowded this year than in the past.”

The skiers train from 4 30 PM - 6 00 PM every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Coach Chaffee explained, “I meet the team there, so I’m able to set training courses prior to the team’s arrival, so our on-snow time is efficiently used.”

At Berkshire East Mountain Resort, the skiers start their practice with a slip run to navigate the course, locate the gates, and make sure the snow is smooth.

For the remainder of practice, each member of the team does multiple runs down the slopes, receiving feedback from the coaches at the end of each run. The coaches’ Lynnette Jiang assessments help to ensure that everyone is on target for meeting his or her goals by the end of the season.

Comprised of recreational and nationally ranked athletes, the team varies in depth.

Regardless, “We have a really great time when we ski together and want to make the best of it,” said FJ Marsh ’19, who joined the team this winter.

It appears that the team is well on its way to meeting its goals this season. Coach Chaffee shared, “I’m most impressed with how all the athletes of both genders have come together as a team, supporting each other and helping each other have fun and get faster.”

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE Meet DA Athletic Trainer Gabriela Biscottini: DA’s Partnership with SpringField College //ETHAN THAYUMANAVAN Associate Editor

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With a record of 8-6-2, boys varsity hockey is ranked #11 out of all the prep school teams in New England and is having one of their best seasons in years.

“Ms. Biscottini added, ‘In my first half-year at Deerfield, I have already seen so many more things than I’ve seen in my four years of undergraduate study.’ Working with countless students who play different sports exposes her to a broad variety of injuries, providing a learning experience that she might not receive working at a college.”

Read this article online at deerfieldscroll.com