In dealing with the accusations that former teachers Peter Hindle and Bryce Lambert engaged in inappropriate acts with students during their tenures at Deerfield, the school exercised a policy of complete transparency. The Scroll appreciates the administration’s efforts to keep developments out in the open, first with a school- wide announcement and then again with a follow-up post on the Daily Bulletin. This was an effective way to reduce rumors and speculation that would have surfaced had the news been kept under wraps.
Though there is no doubt that what happened was a tragedy, most current Deerfield students seem to be generally unaffected by the news. Because most of us never knew either teacher involved, it does not have much of an effect on our day-to-day lives. Our loyalty to Deerfield has not at all been shaken by what happened decades before we arrived, and we trust that Deerfield teachers already know the boundaries between what is appropriate behavior towards a student and what is not. We feel safe with our teachers and do not worry about a similar incident happening again.
In addition, The Scroll supports the school’s decision to rescind various tributes that had been paid to the former teachers, notably the Hindle squash court, the Lambert fellowship and the Lambert fund. In a February interview with The Scroll, Dr. Curtis stated that she wanted to use this as a learning experience for training future faculty. We applaud her for this and are reassured by her.