Each school year, as temperatures drop and the sun sets earlier and earlier, one thing remains constant: class dress. The Academy’s choice to remain in class dress during the weeks between fall and winter break, affectionately dubbed Turkey Term, puzzles many students.
Why does Deerfield still require class dress during Turkey Term? Could it be to showcase the Deerfield culture for the students touring the school during those weeks? Do administrators somehow consider December to be fall enough? Is it connected to Santa? Elves have to have something to do with it, right? Or does Deerfield simply not think the first few weeks of December are cold enough for students to shed their academic dress? Here’s what students think:
According to Theo Lewis ’24, “It’s probably because of tours going on during winter term. The school just wants us to look good for them.”
Braswell Vachon ’25 believes that “they probably just doesn’t believe it’s cold enough for us to be in free dress.”
Although these mundane explanations seem to solve the conundrum, other more eccentric theories have also been proposed.
Rumors have been spreading that the College Advisors influence the Academy to require dress code to keep their advisees in a professional mindset. With students in the thick of college applications, the advisors may be plotting to make sure seniors don’t slack off.
People also say that the administration requires class dress in order to repress holiday cheer. Inside sources say that the Student Life Office fears too much holiday spirit as it could cause spontaneous outbursts of gift giving and kindness, which they say in class could include sharing test answers and therefore violate community values. Not to mention, too much happiness would distract students from the grind and instead cause them to plan winter activities such as sledding and frolicking in the snow.
The rest of the student population at Deerfield believes it is to punish students for any misgivings during fall term.
How can we assauge the problem of class dress in below-freezing temperatures? Several solutions have been proposed. Here they are, ranked in order of popularity:
Solution 1: Cancel all “Turkey Term” classes and extend break from mid-November into early January.
Solution 2: Make class dress during Turkey Term optional. Therefore, if students feel they study better in academic dress, they have the option to. This solution, while popular, may create a jarring look to classrooms if only a select few are wearing class dress.
Solution 3: Create a more relaxed dress code for Turkey Term. According to several students, the inclusion of collared shirts and jeans would greatly increase students’ chances at staying warm.
Solution 4: Require students to wear holiday themed clothing the entire term, à la Elf. The special dress code would raise student morale and help excite students for break.
Solution 5: Take a note from bears and allow students to hibernate the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Solution 6: While it is potentially the least popular option among students, keeping the dress code the same would likely cause the least amount of stress for administrators.
The choice by Deerfield to make class dress required during Turkey Term is layered, and cannot be addressed by one simple solution. Opinions on the issue and thoughts on the reasons behind it vary immensely. While the discussion is deeply nuanced, one conclusion can be made: Staying warm is of the utmost importance to students during these cold winter months.