This summer, Deerfield was met with record-breaking weather conditions, from catastrophic flooding to extreme heat. According to the Boston Globe, Massachusetts was hit by the second highest rainfall on record. Additionally, Springfield news station WWLP reported that the past months have been among the hottest in Massachusetts history.
On July 10 and 21, 2023, campus experienced extreme rainfall, resulting in overwhelmed stormwater management systems and several inches of standing water in multiple buildings. Luca Lyons ’26, who lives on campus during the summer and saw the aftermath of the flooding, described the lower fields as invisible, shrouded in “a vast expanse of water.”
The rain most heavily affected grass fields and the tennis pavilion. Deerfield Director of Facility Operations David Purington said there was an extensive mud deposit on the tennis courts and lower fields, “there were several inches of mud hidden by the tips of the grass, and the mud threatened to suffocate the grass, and otherwise created poor conditions for playing sports.”
Multiple buildings on campus also experienced water damage as a result of the flooding. Mr. Purington said that the “hardest impacts were in the [Main School Building] and the Hess” and “other moderately affected buildings included the Arms, the Kendall, Bewkes, the Dining Hall, [O’Bryne-Curtis], [Rosenwald-Shumway], and Denunzio.” Less severe damage extended all the way to faculty residences as well as other buildings on campus.
As a result of this crisis, the grounds crew put in extensive effort to get the campus ready for student arrival. According to Mr. Purington, between the time of the floods in mid-July and move-in-day, “the grounds team logged somewhere around 2,000 hours of labor devoted to flood recovery” and “leaned on three different companies to help clean and dry the buildings.” Recovering campus has been a work in progress; while physical plant employees repaired the buildings, the fields are still being restored.
In addition to flooding, the campus has struggled with high temperatures in dorms. Some dorms, such as the newest, Simmons, have air conditioning (AC) installed. However, no dorm on campus actively uses air conditioning in dorm rooms during the school year.
Walter Burkley ’24 discussed his experiences in the first week of the school year: “Some nights I would wake up and it would be just so hot,” he said. “I’d have to turn my fans on me. Sometimes I would actually pour water on my head.” According to Burkley, his room reached 89 degrees Fahrenheit.
Students reported that study habits and sleep schedules were negatively affected due to hot room conditions. Michael Clifford-Levy ’26 said he consistently showered or went to get water to escape the heat. A common solution to the problem of overheated dorm rooms was escaping to the cool environment of the library in order to study. However, due to study hall requirements, underclassmen were forced to study in the hot temperatures in their rooms.
Ocean Feng ’24 was a resident of Simmons dormitory last school year. Describing his experience living in Simmons last year, Feng said, “Last year there was a lot of jealousy from people who didn’t live in Simmons, and I don’t think that we should turn [the AC] on because Simmons is already such a good dorm and adding the AC would just be another unfair advantage,” he said. According to Feng, some students argue that due to the nature of the lottery system, some dorms can be better than others, and therefore, turning on the AC in Simmons would be unfair.