The Class of 2012 now begins its senior year. Many seniors assumed leadership positions last April, and have already experienced the exhilaration and stress that accompany a significant increase in responsibilities. All seniors, regardless of title or position, are seen as leaders in the eyes of the school. We even proudly and officially occupy Senior Grass.
At the same time, we know that our Deerfield days are numbered, and we must ask ourselves how the Class of 2012 will be remembered in its final and most crucial year.
We respect and admire last year’s senior class for their individual accomplishments, but we believe that collectively they displayed a lack of good judgment on more than one occasion. We can learn from this and use our newfound leadership, both on and off campus, to reflect the best of Deerfield.
First of all, might I mention that if the Scroll was truly groundbreaking, edgy journalism, this article wouldn’t have been edited. The student editors and other student contributors to the Scroll complain far too often about how censored they are, but when they have one article that becomes sensational, it gets modified. If you have something to say, say it. Regardless of whether people are listening or actually care, you are in a place in which you can speak your mind, so others can respond and speak theirs (and they clearly are).
Now as for the subject of what this all really boils down to, drinking, it is clear that both faculty and students alike stand clearly divided on the topic. But don’t assume just because you feel like you’re taking the high road, and that your promise to yourself that you wouldn’t drink until you’re 21, that it makes you any more respectable than those who partook in these events. Consider who exactly your target audience is– other students? How are they going to respond to the editors of the school newspaper? Surely not in the same way they’re going to respond to team captains, proctors, peer counselors, and other leaders around campus. This seems to simply be a handful of kids who typically feel voiceless, marginalized, and powerless in many regards at Deerfield using this as an opportunity to, for once, feel like they have done something right or better than another Deerfield community member. Seems like an easy, mildly pathetic way for these students to seek positive recognition for their “commendable actions”.
Additionally, this article only targets the class of 2011. Might it be pointed out that members of at least three classes at DA were involved in at least one of the big drinking busts, and in fact a member of the editorial board was part of one as well.
Finally, there was a big emphasis on the fact that student leaders, in all capacities, were participants in these events. It’s been questioned, “What does that say to the younger students?” Well, what does it say? And what does it mean when students who have been democratically elected, or privately selected by trusted faculty members make decisions such as these? These were clearly not unique situations in the sense that the same thing is being demonized in each instance. You can vilify the class of 2011, but I personally can’t wait to hear about the class of 2012 this long fall, this long winter, and post-graduation.
xox
Oh, and look what part of the article suddenly reappeared. Looks like we’ve got ourselves some populists.
Let it be known that not everyone from the class of 2011 participated in any given instance the article is alluding to. Can’t wait for the editorial board to be included in the class of 2013’s article that refers “collectively” to the entire former senior class on their lapse of good judgment.
To say that our class “collectively” had a lapse of judge ment is not only and insult to 2011 but it is a gross over-generalization that the members of the Scroll Board should be ashamed of. It is uneducated statements like that that I personally believe have no place at Deerfield, a place that preaches against generalization and for diversity or at least the recognition of a group as multiple entities not a single machine.
And, 2012, if you don’t want to be like the classes before you, all the power to you. But you have to realize that its more of a cultural, not an individual, attitude that 2011 adopted. Don’t slander those who got caught, that’s the most shortsighted thing you can do. You have to realize that its a common thing to drink on a vacation or following a graduation, and that a lot of people do it. You can write articles and try to set 2011’s legacy as a group of drunken idiots, and that 2012 can “learn from this…and reflect the best of Deerfield,” but keep in mind that it was not just 2011, but pretty much every other Deerfield class that participated in these events. And, frankly, most other classes from most other schools. It’s uncommon to hear of a dry prep-school graduation party. You can diverge from a cultural norm if you feel that is what you want. If, however, you’re looking for a true “Deerfield heritage” or whatever the cliche, just ask any alum, of any age, what they did when they graduated high school, or during their vacations from Deerfield, and see what the majority of answers tells you.
Thank you for phrasing coherently what most of the class of 2011 is too irritated and “over it all” to say, but feels.
Last year’s senior class got caught with a number of drinking cases last year that really, really tarnished its reputation. Even leading up to the senior party – they messed up even after graduating. But, we have to consider and look beyond the myopia of this piece and its writer. 2011 got caught on multiple occasions, but we have to understand, every class before 2011 participated in the same actions. Every event that occurred with last year’s seniors involving alcohol occurred with every other class before them, at least for the past four years. The school decided to punish 2011 because they got caught, for one reason or another. But if anyone is to associate 2011 with a negative attitude for their actions, remember that the seniors before them, and the seniors before them, and the seniors before them participated in the exact same irresponsible behavior. In some cases, the seniors before 2011 abused substances in far greater excesses. Let 2011 have its legacy if you want, but don’t be naive enough to label the class as something that every other class wasn’t.
And on a more lighthearted note:
Enjoying taking it from Margarita, the Deans, the Administration, and once this time rolls around next year, hopefully the class of 2013.
You certainly haven’t done anything to not deserve it.
If members of 2012 attend a party hosted by a younger kid long fall weekend and chose to drink in front of kids in ’13 and ’14, drink on a school hosted trip, and then proceed to get busted by the police *150 of us* drinking the night we graduate- we will take it from anyone who wishes to comment. We will accept some light criticism because you know what, what we did would be wrong. Theres no changing the drinking age or the written school rules… it sucks but they are rules and they are expected to be followed. Its unrealistic to say that we will all follow them, but we in 2012 now understand that if we chose not to, there will be consequences and yes, boo-hoo, the scroll will most like write a line next fall saying that we collectively showed some lapse in judgement. I just dont understand why you are all taking this one line so personally when it is the truth…
See my above post as well.
“We in 2012 now understand that if we chose not to (follow the rules), there will be consequences.”
YOU UNDERSTAND NOW!?!?? YOU HAD TO SEE THREE SPECIFIC INCIDENCES WHERE INDIVIDUALS MADE STUPID DECISIONS TO UNDERSTAND THAT THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES? That’s laughable.
You keep acting as if only seniors were making bad choices. What I’m taking personally is the choice of the scroll to highlight the mistakes made “Collectively” and as far as this piece is concerned, only by the class of 2011 (Which is not a fair generalization), that individuals in every single senior class before us have made, (and that some of you have already made, See Quebec, Long Winter) in order to highlight a standard of conduct for the new senior class, and acting as if you guys are rising pure, white, and knowing into your positions of “leadership”, ready to take the helm and not display the same “Lack of good judgment” that individuals in our class did.
youre funny banana. haha i do wonder who you are, maybe you shouldnt be Anonymous.. why would you be anyways if you feel so passionately about all of this? Why dont you submit or write to the scroll if that one line affected you THIS much. The bottom line is that large groups of 2011 kids did screw up last year, whether kids did every year in the past, or whether underclassmen did as well, is somewhat irrelevant in this editorial. You know what the scroll said here is true (there are obvious facts to back up its “generalization”, its an editorial so they can take whatever stance they want. They identified a standard of conduct because after everything that happened at the end of last year with your senior class, the standards dropped significantly.
Let me tell you, it shouldn’t be a challenge to figure out who I am. Though I too am starting to wonder who you are. Thank you for your kind thoughts regarding college though, I’m doing quite well.
“Why dont you submit or write to the scroll if that one line affected you THIS much?”
My understanding of the abilities of the scroll editorial board is that they are capable of going on their computers and accessing the internet. If they’re at all interested, they can find my opinion here. Or I’ll just email the contents of this discussion to them, as we seem to have covered the major bases.
“Large groups of 2011 kids did screw up last year, whether kids did every year in the past, or whether underclassmen did as well, is somewhat irrelevant in this editorial.”
And that’s one of the problems I’m having with the piece, as stated above. I think it’s quite relevant to the fairness of this piece and to the mindset of the senior class that kids EVERY YEAR in the past (In addition to the underclassmen this year) have “screwed up”.
“Why would it get into talking about younger students and making mistakes when we were not leaders and were looking up to the senior class as underclassmen and as juniors. Did the scroll ever say that “just because one is not a leader in the community it does not excuse bad decision making””
It SHOULD get into talking about younger students and making mistakes so that the current generation of younger students has the common sense and confidence regardless of grade level to be responsible and consider their choices carefully. If this exercise (and, as we have stated, the behavior of individuals in each of the senior classes before us) proves anything, it’s that younger students shouldn’t be constantly looking to the senior class for guidance, as members of the senior class are quite prone to making mistakes.
And no, they never explicitly said “just because one is not a leader in the community, their bad decision making can be excused.” But they have implied it by choosing only to call members of the class of 2011 to task for bad decisions made over the course of the past year. Additionally, you have implied it in asking why the mistakes of younger students should be brought up as “we were not leaders and were looking up to the senior class.” That statement implies that the mistakes of those students were not relevant for either or both of the following reasons.
1) You were not leaders
2) Individuals in the senior class (leaders) were making those same mistakes.
I would much prefer a system or an Academy in which students at all ages were challenged to use their ability to think for themselves regarding the consequences of action, make informed decisions based on that thinking, and learn from the results rather than the current system of blindly following the “Example” set by the “leaders” in the senior class.
I don’t object to systems where role models exist, but the current one which we subscribe to is quite flawed.
“its an editorial so they can take whatever stance they want.”
Completely true. Discussion and free thought is the basis of good society. Just as I am allowed to voice my disagreement and question their views, and you’re allowed to do the same with mine. I’ve not said anything to the contrary.
“They identified a standard of conduct because after everything that happened at the end of last year with your senior class, the standards dropped significantly.”
What standards? What about everything that happened at the end of last year? It’s not as if the senior class was expected to go home immediately after graduation and twiddle their thumbs like good little children. There’s been a long tradition of senior parties where alcohol was consumed. So if anything, the standard WAS to have a senior party and consume alcohol. The only problem is we were caught and brought bad publicity to the school. I’m not justifying those individuals actions through this, but I’ve spoken to members of other boarding school senior classes, and the reason that they found this hilarious was not that we were consuming alcohol, it’s that we were caught. The majority of our peer schools graduated individuals who hosted and attended very similar parties. EVERYONE knows these parties go on, and EVERYONE in the administration and community chooses to turn a blind eye until they can’t ignore it. (Aka, until the Vermont State Police come calling)
So I really don’t see what extant standards you’re even referring to, or how they have dropped.
Clearly “hey” is Sarah Woolf. It’s obvious.
I couldn’t agree more with the above comment.
No offense class of 2012, but realize that you’ll just be another page in the yearbooks once you leave Deerfield. You’ll be whitewashed and edited so only the good or the parts of you the school wants to exhibit shine through. It should never be about how you’re remembered as a class, but how you’ll be remembered as individuals.
The most important thing to me about Deerfield was not the way that the school thought of me, (As I know it didn’t think much) but how my friends and people who I cared about thought of me.
I couldn’t care less about how the school, or the deans, or the administration remembers my class. As individuals, we’re all different. To categorize us all as being cut from the same cloth is a horrendous disservice that shouldn’t be sanctioned in any sort of legitimate paper, much less one that represents the Deerfield “community”.
You certainly didn’t reflect the “Best of Deerfield” by choosing to insult the class above you as a way of reminding yourselves that the reputation of your class (And of the school) is the most important legacy that you leave behind at the academy.
banana:
You wrote: As INDIVIDUALS, we’re all different. To categorize us all as being cut from the same cloth is a horrendous disservice that shouldn’t be sanctioned in any sort of legitimate paper, much less one that represents the Deerfield “community”.
Scroll wrote: We respect and admire last year’s senior class for their INDIVIDUAL accomplishments, but we believe that collectively they displayed a lack of good judgment on more than one occasion.
Did you really go to Deerfield? Or are you just so caught up in your angry tirade about your hard feelings towards DA administration and deans that you didnt really re-read the editorial to see what the Scroll was trying to say? They said that they recognized your individuality and your additions to the school. I guess they probably should have just written after the line about collectively showing lack of good judgement: “On both long fall weekend (attending a party with younger students and drinking (many people), long winter (in quebec) and then once again for senior parties (140 kids were written up by the police).”
Move on 2011.
I’m not in the practice of referring to any class as having any blanket characteristics which can be used to describe it as a whole. The class of 2011 was made up of 191 individuals who made individual choices during the time that they spent at DA and shortly afterwards. There’s not a hive mind at work here, and I don’t think it’s quite fair to say that the class of 2011 collectively displayed a lack of good judgement.
Make judgments about individuals, not about groups where it doesn’t even apply to all members of a group. It’s the difference between valid opinion/argument and stereotyping.
And yes, I did read the editorial multiple times, and the meaning that I’ve taken from it is as above.
I think that the members of the Scroll editorial board chose to comment on the mistakes that it believes our class as a whole made as somewhat of a warning or guideline for the other classes to take note of so they will not make the same mistakes. And then they chose to shift it into the typical Deerfield fashion through telling the lower classes that they can “represent the best of Deerfield” by not making the mistakes that the class of 2011 made, “Collectively”.
Perhaps the addition should read as this:
“At the party long fall weekend while drinking with numerous individuals from the classes of 2013 and 2012, while drinking during the long winter weekend in Quebec also with individuals from the class of 2012, and at Senior Parties, where there were surprisingly no other members of other classes present, as they’d be making similar decisions throughout the entire year.”
That would’ve been a bit more accurate and a bit more fair.
It’s time for people to realize that bad behavior is still bad behavior even when you’re not a leader. Doesn’t matter whether it’s the president of the senior class or a random sophomore, the decisions are the same. Yet Deerfield only chose to chew out those with “Leadership” for making bad decisions.
I quote you Banana:
“It’s time for people to realize that bad behavior is still bad behavior EVEN WHEN YOURE NOT A LEADER. Doesn’t matter whether it’s the president of the senior class or a random sophomore, the decisions are the same. Yet Deerfield ONLY chose to chew out those with “Leadership” for making bad decisions. ”
I quote the editorial:
“many seniors assumed leadership positions last April, and have already experienced the exhilaration and stress that accompany a significant increase in responsibilities. ALL SENIORS, REGARDLESS of TITLE or POSITION, are seen as LEADERS in the eyes of the school.”
enough said. your argument is faulty.
I sincerely hope you run into McConnell one day, because that is not even close to enough said.
I also enjoy how you chose to ignore the majority of what I said and focus in on the last sentence that you could turn to The Scroll to “discredit”. So my argument is faulty because I disagree with the Scroll? Last time I checked, the paper was not an irrefutable bastion of facts.
My apologies for not explicitly stating my disagreement with (And contempt for) the scroll’s statement that “All seniors, regardless of title or position, are seen as leaders in the eyes of the school.” I’ll try to spell everything out in neat, small, simple words so you can understand what I’m saying.
Before I go any further, I’ll say the following regarding leadership. Deerfield’s concept of leadership is one of the most contradictory I’ve ever seen in my life. As an interesting statistic, during the past two years, the percentage of Student Council members getting themselves in disciplinary trouble (DC’s resulting in suspension or worse) was close to one in four. The student body’s as a whole is closer to 1/30 or lower. If that tells you anything about the type of kid that Deerfield imagines as a “Leader”, that’s all I need to say.
Continuing though, I’ve never understood why Seniors were just given an imaginary mantle of leadership solely for being seniors. There’s no logical reason for it besides “They’re the oldest.” Being the oldest means absolutely nothing if you still make stupid decisions. And as you clearly saw, just because the seniors were the oldest individuals on campus, they were by no means the smartest.
Proper leadership isn’t inherited by age or even given through a title. I’ve participated in numerous student organizations where the officers have been completely incapable of performing their responsibilities. Leadership is something that needs to be proven, and it is earned through hard work. If you put your faith in anyone who hasn’t proven themselves and earned their role through hard work, I would say that that faith is misplaced.
Now, this is what I understand you to be agreeing with or arguing for in stating that I am wrong.
Premise 1) All Seniors are Leaders
Premise 2) People follow their leaders
Premise 3) Some Seniors made bad decisions.
Ergo – Conclusion:
When leaders make bad decisions, and others follow, it is the fault of the leaders.
If any Deerfield student is willing to make that argument, they should pack it in and go home. If you don’t come out of the Academy with the knowledge and view that your choices are your own to make and that you alone must take responsibility for them, you’ve lost the point of an education. There no excuse for the seniors who chose to drink and make those less than wise decisions. At the same time, however, those students who choose to blame the seniors for the bad decisions made by younger students in similar incidences are just as mistaken as those seniors were, yet you and the Scroll are almost excusing the behavior of those younger students (By not calling them out or acknowledging the mistakes they made as well, and solely commenting on the mistakes the senior class has made) simply because they were not the “leaders” in those given situations. Just because one is not a “leader” in the community, it does not excuse bad decision making.
I think the editorial was meant to comment on how 2012 is becoming seniors and so it focused only on that topic… why would it get into talking about younger students and making mistakes when we were not leaders and were looking up to the senior class as underclassmen and as juniors? Did the scroll ever say that “just because one is not a leader in the community it does not excuse bad decision making”? You are making generalizations that are not really relevant to this short editorial. Youre getting at bigger things than what seem to be the motives of this editorial.. its an editorial addressed to the class of 2012 who are becoming seniors not really anything else..Not saying I disagree with everything youre saying.. you just seem to be caught up in all your angst right now about your DA experience and are ranting about some things that are really getting away from the topic at hand. Just my two cents, your welcome to have yours. Hope your not too preoccupied with your high school drama and are enjoying your time at college, Banana.
The goal of this letter is to bring about the demise of The Scroll’s venal writings just as Charter 77 brought about the demise of communism in Czechoslovakia. Before I say anything else, let me remind The Scroll that it doubtlessly believes that longiloquent loons make the best scoutmasters and schoolteachers. Unfortunately for it, that’s all in its imagination. The Scroll needs to get out of that fictional world and get back to reality, where people can see that some of us have an opportunity to come in contact with recalcitrant, politically incorrect control freaks on a regular basis at work or in school. We, therefore, may be able to gain some insight into the way they think, into their values; we may be able to understand why they want to manufacture outrage at The Scroll’s rivals by attributing to them all types of acrimonious, stuck-up communications. The Scroll motivates people to join its plunderbund by using words like “humanity”, “compassion”, and “unity”. This is a great deception. What The Scroll really wants to do is create a world sunk in the most abject superstition, fanaticism, and ignorance. That’s why The Scroll is like a giant octopus sprawling its slimy length over city, state, and nation. Like the octopus of real life, it operates under cover of self-created screen. The Scroll seizes in its long and powerful tentacles our executive officers, our legislative bodies, our schools, our courts, our newspapers, and every agency created for the public protection.
Perhaps The Scroll has never had to take a stand and fight for something as critical as our right to oppugn its nasty remonstrations. But it has inadvertently provided us with an instructive example that I find useful in illustrating certain ideas. By engulfing reason and humanity within waves of demagogism and fear, The Scroll makes it clear that I have a dream, a mission, a set path that I would like to travel down. Specifically, my goal is to put The Scroll on notice for its attempts to usher in the rule of the Antichrist and the apocalyptic end times. Of course, I shall not argue that its newsgroup postings are an authentic map of its plan to quote me out of context. Read them and see for yourself.
To give the devil his due, I was impressed with how efficiently The Scroll managed to replace our natural soul with an artificial one, especially given that it occasionally writes letters accusing me and my friends of being officious dopeheads. These letters are typically couched in gutter language (which is doubtless the language in which it habitually thinks) and serve no purpose other than to convince me that I know some mordacious blaguers who actually believe that there should be publicly financed centers of Zendicism. Incredible? Those same people have told me that individual worth is defined by race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin. With such people roaming about, it should come as no surprise to you that it ignores a breathtaking number of facts, most notably:
Fact: Its language is turgid and incomprehensible.
Fact: It has been a bad apple for as long as I can remember.
Fact: I can say with absolute certitude that it is simply incapable of entertaining an unorthodox idea.
In addition, I try to avoid blanket statements and broad generalizations when I propose that society as a whole should act as a unifying force to hunt down not only the perpetrators of ultracrepidarianism but also all of the proponents of that doolally philosophy. I put that observation into this letter just to let you see that if I had to choose the most disorderly specimen from its welter of abusive gabble, it would have to be its claim that it is a master of precognition, psychokinesis, remote viewing, and other undeveloped human capabilities. Our goal must now be to contribute to the intellectual and spiritual health of the body politic. If you believe that that’s a worthwhile goal, then I can decidedly use your help. Let me hear from you.
Despite having one of the best faculty advisors one group could ask for, the policies that the school administers on The Scroll makes it an absolute joke. Instead of talking about student opinions let’s talk about DA Cribz! Wohoo exciting!
Get a grip, stop polishing the school’s fragile reputation and focus on what goes on inside.
Casey, Sammy, Sungmin….better hide on choate day
What are you talking about? The senior editor wrote this article, not them…
…maybe there was a reason we seemed to lacked “judgement.” Focus on WHY we acted the way we did instead of mindlessly listening to the school to help your pristine resume. Don’t worry about reflecting the best of Deerfield… worry about reflected yourself. Don’t let the institution trick you into thinking that you owe it. It’s a school, you’re supposed to learn and live. The Scroll is an absolute joke… censored to the max. By the looks of this article it’s going to stay that way.
“How will the class of 2012 be remembered.” Who cares? Deerfield is for you… you’ve been given fantastic teachers and friends. If you make a little noise because you feel injustice… so be it. If you get in some trouble but have fun in the process that matters more in the end than being miserable and following rules clearly bent on preserving the school’s reputation.
You may argue that you should submit to maintain the school’s reputation. But I’d rather go to a school that doesn’t have a pretty name but allows me to express myself.
I believe Deerfield lied to me. Lied about every member of the community caring, lied about sports programs caring about students, and lied about putting students first. That is why I believe our actions were fine. We bonded and created a great environment by expressing ourselves even if it was against the school’s judgement.
I do agree that some of our actions were excessive (the graffiti), however, I find it disgusting that you chastise a class that dared to make some noise and create an environment that the school failed.
I loved Deerfield but not because of the name, not because of the fancy gifts to alumnus, and not because of the “community” concept they shove down our throats. I loved Deerfield because I learned to make the best of it by the end of my time there and to value what was good and challenge what was wrong.
I encourage you, Scroll Board, to ask yourself if you really want to sell your soul to the school…
I am far more embarrassed by your grammar than any anything you could possibly do at senior parties.
-Member of 2012
I’m far more embarrassed that you’re, as a student who has presumably spent more than two years at DA (Taking classes… well, based on your response, maybe not) is more concerned with the grammar than with the message.
this is clearly sarah woolf. called out. sorry.
If the best of Deerfield is docility… You only graduate from high school once.
Sorry for partying.
-Member of the Deerfield Academy Class of 2011
Out of all these comments, yours said it best.
-Another proud member of the Class of 2011
OHHH YEAHHH