Couldn't help but borrow these two "post-Thanksgiving" photos of Dave Ziccardi from Facebook..They were taken six years apart!
Tuesday, December 13, 2022
Thursday, December 8, 2022
Just Cruisin' By...
Sean Nottage and Matt Calman connected in Nassau recently while Matt was in port during a Thanksgiving week cruise. Matt’s now, amongst other things, a college professor. Ask him about it!
Wednesday, November 30, 2022
Professor Wareck's two feeds...
The latest from Jim Wareck:
"Checking in from the base of the Boise and Sawtooth Mountains, where I have been fortunate (and humbled) to be named an Adjunct professor at Boise State University in the Theater Film and Creative Writing Department. Yes, I know what you are thinking, believe me no one is more shocked than I about this. During the Summer of 20, LA had been shut down and for a variety of reasons I needed to hit reset. I came to Boise to write, and a college era friend of a friend told me that BSU had just started a film program, so I called and offered to speak to the class. After the talk they offered me a job and now I teach producing for film in the Fall and am getting more involved with the University in the development of the department. Yes, in class, and in the larger University community, not to mention Boise, it is a bit like the old tv show where the NYC doctor goes to Alaska, but I am trying to adapt, and my classroom is in the shadow of the famed blue turf of the football stadium. I am also living half the year in Connecticut and dipping in and out of LA for work on movie stuff.
I'm loving the natural beauty of this new (to me) part of the country, learning about the history, and what is still a pioneer spirit yet able to see familiar faces. As the pictures document, there have been 2 Plunkett reunions, seeing Leigh (Guyer) on his drive through Boise and venturing to Steamboat and spending a great 24 hrs with Adam (Feiges). And as our 40th reunion approaches, and the 100th anniversary of Choate Day is celebrated, I felt the need to celebrate the 39th anniversary of the mostly forgotten Frito Feed from Plunkett East 1, when our corridor master walked down the hall with a bag (singular serving) and offered whoever was there "a frito". Allegedly he spent what he was given to him by the Academy on, shall we say, personal libations. I haven't made it to Wyoming to see the founding member of DA 83 Mountain West Club, Mr. Pattee, but one summer hope to pass through Jackson if he will have an audience with me. Encourage all to explore this area and come to Boise. still offering 10% grade inflation to any of your children or their friends who use the code DA83 or Choatesucks to register for my class."
Monday, November 21, 2022
The Deerfield Pulse
This is a link to a great page on the DA website called The Pulse. It highlights alumni and students in the news...
Monday, November 14, 2022
Yup, you can hear me now...
Spence Brown has had a long career in audio with Westwood One (radio) and Cadence13 (podcasts) and is now ceo in a full service audio content, marketing and production company called Gemini XIII.
Here's a 10 minute interview he did with KnockMedia talking about the keys to successful podcasting...
Saturday, November 5, 2022
Beating Choate for 100 Years...
Choate Day is in Wallingford, CT this year on November 12th, just follow the smell. It is also the 100th anniversary of this storied rivalry.
Consider attending or livestreaming and please consider making some or all of your 40th reunion gift during the Choate Challenge, which is live now!
Thursday, November 3, 2022
Whit's Reality Check...
On the heels of Adam’s great news, I'm sorry to have to share less positive news with you and our classmates.
I’ve been treated for metastatic melanoma since first being diagnosed in June 2020. Two different rounds of immunotherapy treatment, representing the most current standard of care for my illness, have not turned the tide and my disease has progressed significantly over the past few months, as detailed by a recent PET scan. Though I have some new lesions or “mets” (metastases) and some spread to my pelvis and hip area, I am not symptomatic and not in physical discomfort, which my oncologist at Dana Farber terms “amazing” and “lucky.” I start a third drug combo on Friday with hopes of arresting disease progression and perhaps even turning the tide.
The timing is ironic in that my daughter, an 8th grader, is currently looking at boarding schools and I am the point person for that. She’s more ready than I was to go away and a far sight more mature at a similar age. I’m excited to see her take this next step in her life and she remains my North Star and guiding light. I hope this finds everyone healthy and happy and counting the many blessings that have accrued to so many of us.
Whit Sheppard
Monday, October 31, 2022
Heritage Award - Dr. Adam Weinberg
Find below the link to the school meeting recording that included Adam's acceptance speech and the text of his speech. Adam looks forward to being back on campus at our 40th reunion, June 9-10, 2023!
https://events.locallive.tv/events/88741
Adam Weinberg, President
Remarks at Deerfield Academy
October 26, 2022
"I want to tell a story. It’s March 2020. I am getting ready to board a plane from Florida back to Denison University when our Vice President for Student Life calls me to say that this “COVID” thing is real and it's likely to shut down our campus. Other colleges are sending students home. I respond by saying that we will weather the storm. Let’s do nothing for now. Let the students enjoy their semester.
A few days later, she comes into my office and reminds me that students are heading home for spring break. If we don’t tell them to pack up their stuff and I am wrong, we (she and I) will be personally packing the rooms of 2300 students and mailing their stuff to them.
Over the next 48 hours the world changes. It’s clear that we need to shut the campus. That day, we made a few decisions that set us down a course that was different from many other colleges. The decisions were hard. They were often controversial. But they were right. Nobody got through the COVID year of 2020-2021 unscathed, but it’s possible that Deerfield and Denison navigated the year better than most any other educational institutions. There is a connection that I will come back to in a few minutes. It starts with Being Worthy of Your Heritage. Much of how I navigated Denison through the crisis started with values and views on leadership that I learned at Deerfield.
Our first real major decision concerned our staff. As colleges shut down, they started to lay off staff. 13% of all staff in higher education would lose their jobs. Most of them lower paid and often hourly. We stood up and promised the 900 people who worked for us that everybody would have a job and benefits. Even if they did not have work to do, nobody at Denison would lose a paycheck. Denison is anchored by relationships. Our faculty and staff had stood by the college and our students for decades. This was the college’s chance to stand by them.
Then in May, we made the decision that we would open in August of 2020. At the time, most liberal arts colleges made similar decisions, but starting in late June and through July, many, probably most, changed course. They would not open their campus, they would be remote, or they would open and welcome back only some students. We stayed the course.
We partnered with a team of epidemiologists at the Wexner Medical Center at The Ohio State University. We made them a deal. We would follow their advice, unconditionally, if we got to set the goals.
Our first goal was to welcome all students back to campus. They said that could happen with proper testing and protocols. We then told them that we wanted to play sports. They were skeptical. We told them it was important, and they didn’t need to worry because most colleges were remote and there would be nobody to play. Then we said it was important to do live theatre and music. We made it happen. It was not easy. We did “walking” theatre outside. There were weekends where we believe we might have been the only live arts in the great state of Ohio.
As it got closer to the start of classes, faculty and staff and the local community questioned our plans.
People were scared about the campus reopening and the impact it might have on them or the local community. Then we did something important. We listened. We listened with intense intellectual humility. We sought out those who had different views from us and we invited them to the table. We course corrected. We did not move the flag. We were going to open. But, we changed how we would do it.
And then we opened. Almost every student came back. That was a surprise! We put up tents where faculty could teach outdoors. We bought hundreds of Adirondack chairs and put them around campus so
students could be together outside. We purchased fire pits. We found food trucks and took social life outdoors.
Nothing was easy about the year. We had to constantly course correct. We had to constantly seek to do better. But we got through it. We had virtually no COVID on campus. We found success by being clear eyed and focused on doing everything in our power to provide our students a life-shaping liberal education while keeping our people healthy and safe. At the end of the year, we were tired (exhausted really), but proud and grateful and possibly stronger as a community.
Why do I tell this story? It’s not an important story. It’s a story about how one college navigated a crisis.
But, it’s also a story about Deerfield. My approach to running a college during COVID was shaped by my time at Deerfield and my belief in “being worthy of my heritage.”
The mantra of “be worthy of your heritage” resonated with me as a high school student. It helped me understand the kind of human being that I aspired to be and the life that I wanted to live. From my time at Deerfield, I took away a few qualities that have rooted my life and my career:
• Have values and use them to guide your actions
• Relationships anchor our lives and communities
• Be committed to things larger than yourself and to the arc of history
• Have intellectual humility and be a daily and life-long learner
• Be committed to doing things well and always strive to do them better
• Learn to see failure as necessary and important if you want to succeed
When faced with an unknowable virus and an uncertain situation, I fell back on my values. When things get hard, you rise to the occasion, and you lean in and lead. You do it with integrity and empathy. You act from a place of reason and rationality. There is no shame in life in failure, but there is shame in quitting.
Relationships matter. If you get the relationships right, everything else falls into place. We were going to do everything we could to keep our people employed and safe, and to give our students the life-shaping liberal arts education they deserved.
That’s the easy part–trying. The getting it right part is “hard” and requires intellectual humility. Walk through life with the view that there is a distinct possibility that you might be wrong, so seek out alternative voices and views. See those who disagree with you as a gift, because you can learn from them. If you do, they will make you seem smarter and more talented than you really are.
Finally, be committed to things larger than yourself and to the arc of history. It would have been too easy to bemoan how hard it was to lead a college during COVID. But I felt honored. How often in your life do you truly get the opportunity to stand up and to step into a really hard and complex situation in service of others and an organization you cherish?
To close, I loved my time at Deerfield. I arrived from Texas in the fall of 1980 with cowboy boots. I quickly learned that I was in over my head. Everybody seemed smarter. They were and many still are.
For the first time in my life, there were people on the hockey team who were better than me. That was hard! People had cultural capital that I did not have.
Then I realized that people here cared about me. I felt the deep relationships that anchor Deerfield. My teachers pushed me hard because they believed that I could do better. My friends pulled me along with them to places that I did not know existed because they wanted me to be part of their communities. I learned that I had come to a place that could help me architect a life for myself that I could never have imagined when I left Dallas and arrived here. All it asked in return was that I be worthy of my heritage."
Wednesday, October 19, 2022
#WORTHY
The Deerfield Class of 1983 contains individuals of excellence and service who have supported Deerfield in many ways. We've had members of our class be Faculty members, visiting scholars, Trustees, Executive Committee members, Parent Committee members, alumni game participants, you name it.
And now we have officially reached the very top!
Deerfield Academy Heritage Award 2022
October 26, 2022
9:40 am ET
Featuring Dr. Adam S. Weinberg '83, President, Denison University
Join us for the livestream<https://events.loca
LIVESTREAM NOW<https://events.locallive.t
CONGRATULATIONS ADAM!
Friday, October 14, 2022
You call that a fish?
John Cianciolo found himself about a mile offshore of Narragansett, RI the other day, on his cousin's boat, when he felt a tug on the line.
The rest is six hundred and thirty two pounds of history! (#632)
Monday, October 10, 2022
That reunion spirit...
Hopefully you received the recent email from DA announcing the 40th reunion dates at June 9-11, 2023. Please mark your calendars!
Already in the spirit are Alex Kerr and Don Hindman...
"Alex Kerr recently hosted Don Hindman at Hollywood's oldest steakhouse, Musso & Frank, where Orson Wells famously dined solo every week. Both are in for our 40th in 2023!"
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
When in Newport...
John Knight got his first taste of Newport (RI) Polo with the USA v. England tilt on Saturday of Labor Day Weekend.
Pictured (LtoR): John's wife Martha Wofford, Laurie Knight, Jim Knight (DA '81) and John.
Wednesday, September 14, 2022
Cruising with Andrew Nash
Just a picture stolen off of Facebook so you know what Andrew Nash looks like when you bump into him next!
Monday, September 12, 2022
Hindman kicks off OktoberFest
In Colorado, the OctoberFest celebrations begin on Labor Day Weekend and travel eastward from ski town to ski town until they hit Denver in mid October.
Not one to wait for anything resembling a celebration, Don Hindman and family hit the Vail Valley in style!!!
Tuesday, September 6, 2022
Adam on student mental health...
Denison University President Adam Weinberg opines on student mental health in colleges these days.
"There has been a significant increase in anxiety and depression among college students. Recent data from the CDC suggests a disproportionate risk for mental health problems in college-age people; one study reported that nine out of 10 college students believe that colleges have a mental health crisis.
Despite increased awareness about the importance of supporting mental health on college campuses, our conversations too often emphasize averting crises. Instead, we need proactive discussions focused on helping students develop the skills and habits to thrive in a fast-paced and complex world.
We should start by reframing the topic from a “problem with our students” to a “problem with the historical moment in which our students live.”There is a lot to be anxious about today.
We need to assure students that mental health challenges are not a personal failing but a reasonable response to a challenging historical moment when they are reading and hearing a lot about climate change, war in Europe, a global pandemic, political polarization, rampant inflation and declining social and political institutions.
And we should recognize that the social isolation and anxiety many of our students are feeling is less about them as individuals and more about how Covid responses negatively impacted their lives during the past few years.
Young people’s prolonged social isolation in the midst of learning to develop healthy social skills and negotiate responsibilities had profound negative impacts on both their physical and mental health.
After acknowledging these stressors, the conversation needs to focus on helping students learn to positively impact their own health. While not all aspects of their mental health are under their control, students have more ownership than they realize.
We should encourage candid conversations about the connection between physical and mental health. If students don’t sleep enough (and few do), eat nutritionally and stay active, they won’t be physically or mentally healthy. For example, one study found that with every additional night of insufficient sleep, the risk of experiencing mental health symptoms increased by more than 20 percent.
We also need to have candid conversations about the connection between social media and increased levels of bullying, harassment and FOMO (fear of missing out) and how this contributes to poor mental health.
Too many students are using social media to find human connection instead of seeking out the face-to-face interactions that build strong relationships and are critical to well-being and development.
Most importantly, we need to introduce concepts like emotional agility and mindfulness into our campus conversations. Harvard professor Susan David talks about how the way we engage our emotions shapes our mental health. We can help students develop the tools to recognize anxiety and depression as feelings that are real but not fixed.
I love this quote from her: “When we show up fully, with awareness and acceptance, even the worst demons usually back down.”
We need to help students understand that suffering is deeply human, and that we can learn to accept it, move through it and emerge more substantial and resilient.
Research done by the Mind & Life Institute and other organizations should guide campuswide conversations about how to transform everything from teaching to residential halls to crisis management in ways that foster students’ development of the skills and habits of well-being.
We also need to set reasonable and realistic expectations for students about the college experience. Tim Bono at Washington University has been rightly critical of our college admissions process that paints an unrealistic picture for incoming students. Colleges need to describe the whole college experience — including its challenges and demands.
While there are many fun moments, there are also times of loneliness, struggle and failure.
We need to help students understand that suffering is deeply human, and that we can learn to accept it, move through it and emerge more substantial and resilient.
By design, college delivers profound personal growth, and this happens through overcoming obstacles and developing tools to succeed. We should not be afraid to challenge students out of fear that it will have a detrimental impact on their mental health. The greatest gift we can give young people is a “push,” because it sends the message that we believe in them and that they can rise to the occasion.
Brandon Slade of Untapped Learning recently said to me, “Too often, colleges are all support and no accountability or all accountability and no support. The best colleges understand that students need two parts support to one part accountability.”
The experience of recovering from setbacks and hardships is something we need throughout our lives. College campuses are good places for students to learn and practice getting up over and over again to achieve more than they think is possible.
Finally, we need a conversation about medical care on our campuses. We need to clarify what our campuses can and cannot provide, and we need to allow students with existing medical providers to continue to receive care virtually.
The time is right for colleges to explore new partnerships to expand the medical care we offer. We also need to be honest with students about when it might be wise to take a semester off. Sometimes students need to give themselves permission to step away from college, focus on their health and then return when they are healthy and ready to continue.
When I look across our campuses, I see a generation of students who are intent on addressing the issues of their time. Colleges can prepare them to meet those challenges, but we need a better conversation about who we are, what we do and how we help students develop the capacity to thrive in their personal and professional lives."
Adam Weinberg is the president of Denison University in Granville, Ohio.
Thursday, September 1, 2022
Mr. President...Eric Peterson
Congratulations again to Eric Peterson on his new school leadership position, this time as President of Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, VA!
https://www.chathamstartribune.com/news/article_1b6e2762-23b7-11ed-a6e1-87607c8f27ac.html
I urge you to click the link to read the local news story - I tried to paste it here but the images created terrible formatting issues. Eric touches on a number of subjects, including some of what he learned from his experience as the Head of School at St. George's.
Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Nottage has rare classmate sighting...
Sean Nottage often has dinner at the Deerfield Inn, especially as his annual summer sojourn in Deerfield, MA comes to an end and he prepares to head back to his Bahamian paradise...This year, he was stunned to see our own Eduardo Blohm at the Inn after having just dropped his daughter at NMH. So great to see both of them...
Stay vigilant '83!
Monday, August 29, 2022
Right Place, Right Time
Whit Sheppard couldn't believe his luck. In a second chance encounter on the Vineyard...
"Two in one week!
Adam Weinberg on the Vineyard to spread the word about Denison at a reception on novelist Amor Towles’s front lawn overlooking the Vineyard Sound. Adam is a terrific and engaging public speaker and his message is strong. Great to see him for the first time in —gulp!— nearly 40 years."
Wednesday, August 24, 2022
Monday, August 22, 2022
Tuesday, August 16, 2022
Boston is the new movieland?
“Nottage and Clark talking movie business. Nelse had just finished a day of movie location scouting, his current gig; and Sean heads back to The Bahamas at the end of the month to start filming a TV series in which he has a principal role.”
Monday, August 15, 2022
Happenstance
Great picture from a chance meeting this weekend: Whit Sheppard and Chris Flagg on Martha's Vineyard!
Wednesday, August 3, 2022
DA1983 virtual Golf Tournament is LIVE
Knight isn't sure if he has to invite players to join the tournament or if they can join on their own - but if you're game - play a round between Thursday 8/4 and Sunday 8/7 and post the score to the 18Birdies tournament he set up:
Tournament: DA1983
Codes: Tournament Code 1425 / Gallery Code 5031
Full Handicap - 18 holes
If you are tech savvy enough to join the tourney, that's already a win. If not, Knight will certainly claim victory as the only participant.
Good Luck!
Here's a screen shot of the page to enter the tournament code...
Monday, August 1, 2022
What a Day...
Great to see Chris Day back on Facebook...and now on the blog!
With Cormorants near his home in Florida...
Monday, July 25, 2022
Travelling?
Congratulations to Rob McGill for getting out of the house and hitting Paris!
and to Jon Bernstein - Congratulations on your 25 years working for American Airlines! Lord knows you've travelled far and wide!
Oh, and Knight went to Tahiti from Australia, so here's a gratuitous "winter in Tahiti" shot:
Saturday, July 2, 2022
Fortune of War
Sydney Australia's oldest pub, Fortune of War, was the scene of John Knight's furthest DA reunion to date. Rob McCreery '82 played host to "the first person I met at Deerfield as we both moved in to Plunkett West 1 in the fall of 1980" and many memories were shared. Rob is now a full time math teacher at a nearby public school and while exhausting, he adores his new profession. Good on ya, Rob!
Sunday, June 26, 2022
Townsend hosts Patton and Knight to kick off golf events
Ben Patton drove from NYC, dropped his son at camp in Maine then returned to his homestead of Hamilton, MA to catch up with his old pal Peter Townsend. John Knight drove up from Rhode Island and the threesome enjoyed a lovely Sunday of golf at Essex County Club (1893, Donald Ross was head pro for 7 years starting in 1910 and redesigned the course).
A dozen members typically gather on weekend mornings at 7:30 am and politely divide into groups and tee times, so our golfers teed off about 8:00 am with the warning that they must be off the course by 11:30 am - the start of an 80 golfer shotgun tournament.
The morning was warm but clear and the golf was crisp! Lots of fun with the challenge presented and Pete, Ben and John were putting the 18th green as the 80 golfers headed to their assigned tees right at the appointed hour.
Find a classmate and go golfing! (or dining, or bowling, or drinking or...)
Remember the virtual golf tournament currently scheduled for the first weekend of August. The tournament link on 18Birdies will get posted on the blog and you can play anytime that weekend!
Friday, June 24, 2022
National Champs!
Congratulations to Boys Varsity Crew for their FIRST PLACE finish at Nationals in Florida! Girls finished FIFTH in the nation! GO BIG GREEN!
ATHLETICS NEWS (Click here for this same story with links to the other media mentioned)
Today, the Big Green boys and girls rowing teams completed their quest at the 2022 US Rowing Youth National Championship held at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, FL. The boys boat crossed the finish line in first place of the men’s youth 4+ in the Final A to be crowned National Champions. In the women’s youth 4+ Final A, the Deerfield girls crew team rowed to a fifth place national rank.
The boys boat surged ahead in the final meters of the race to over take second-place finisher Greenwich for the victory with a winning time of 6:24.415.
Congratulations to the entire boys team and coach: John Patton ’23, Oscar Patton ’23, George Fauver ’22, Casey Smith ’22, Darien Chiang ’23, and Coach Spencer Washburn.
In the closely contested women’s youth 4+ final race, the Big Green crew crossed the finish line with a time of 7:21.252 to claim the title of the fifth fastest boat in the country in their division.
Visit the US Rowing Youth Nationals results page for complete race results. For a recap of the Youth Championships, click here.
Watch the past-race recap by clicking here (minute mark 19:34).
Congratulations to the girls team and coach: Larrabee Pollack ’23, Natalie Meyer ’23, Rachel Mark ’23, Lila Nottage ’22, Nicole Xing ’22, and Coach Parker Washburn.
This is remarkable achievement and it was an incredible season!
Here's a great video (< 3 mins) by US Rowing interviewing a DA rower...
Consider praising these great kids with a gift to the ANNUAL FUND by June 30 if you haven't yet.
Wednesday, June 22, 2022
Van Sullivan movin' on up!
From LinkedIn:
So I guess it’s time to let this cat out of the bag… will be taking on a new role at Stony Brook at the end of the summer. Super excited for this new adventure and can’t wait to tell the incredible SBU story to our corporate partners!
On August 1, Van Sullivan will be joining our team as executive director of corporate relations. In this role, Van will serve as the single point of University contact for the needs of corporate partners as he develops and manages strategic partnerships, focusing on sponsorships and brand partnerships. He also will identify, qualify, cultivate, solicit, and steward corporate philanthropic relationships. Van will report directly to Scott Barrett.
Van is currently serving as executive director of Stony Brook’s Faculty Student Association (FSA), where he successfully maintained the FSA’s operations through the pandemic, upgraded campus dining options and elevated many other programs and services to enhance campus life for students and faculty at Stony Brook. He earned a BS in behavioral sciences from New York Institute of Technology.
Thursday, June 2, 2022
and Still Highly Rated!
Congratulations to Peter Geary on his new career and his demonstrated excellence!
Tuesday, May 31, 2022
"Nothing Is Accomplished Alone"
Greenfield Recorder recap of DA graduation and listing of local graduates...
https://www.recorder.com/A1-DeerfieldAcademyGraduation-46577683
‘Nothing is accomplished alone’: Deerfield Academy celebrates 223rd commencement
DEERFIELD — Deerfield Academy’s Class of 2022 convened for a moment of “history” that Head of School John P.N. Austin said was “just beginning to be written” during their commencement on Sunday.
Hundreds clad in fine attire enjoyed the sunlight as they congregated outside the event tent in anticipation of the students’ arrival at around 10 a.m. The Deerfield Academy String Quartet played a rendition of Antonio Vivaldi’s “Spring” before yielding the day’s sounds to bagpipes, trumpets, drums and fifes ushering in staff and graduates. Following a brief invocation courtesy of Dean of Ethical and Spiritual Life Jan Flaska, speeches were delivered by Austin, Board of Trustees President Brian Simmons, seniors Camryn Purinton Howe and Dominic Sessa and keynote speaker Judge Victor Wright.
Flaska opened the ceremony by emphasizing to students that what they had gained during their time at Deerfield Academy would be versatile and serve them continuously.
“Your reach is wide,” he said. “Your gifts are many. Your presence is a celebration and your gifts are secure.”
When Simmons took up the microphone next, he highlighted the necessity of community togetherness as he acknowledged what each student gained at Deerfield Academy.
“No one who walks upon this stage and shakes the head of school’s hand and receives their diploma can say they did it by themselves,” he said.
Continuing, he said that feelings of community extended by this class would serve future classes well as the school’s legacy grows.
“The example you’ve set and the leadership you’ve provided helps the younger classes perpetuate the values (of Deerfield Academy),” he said.
Austin carried this theme forward even further during his subsequent speech.
“All of these moments and many, many more that come to mind are acts of collective achievement,” he said of the students’ accomplishments during their time at Deerfield Academy.
He concluded his speech by stressing the notion that contributing to the journeys of others should double as an act of self-fulfillment.
“Nothing of meaning or lasting significance is accomplished alone and no joy is complete unless it is shared,” he said.
The senior addresses each balanced elicited laughter with powerful reflection, with Howe comically contrasting her experience as an unsuccessful water polo player with the beauty of dedicating flowers to loved ones and Sessa comparing his student experience to the life of his former hamster.
“Spinning, spinning, spinning, am I worthy yet?” he yelled, lining up his hamster’s seemingly directionless and boring wheel-running to the fatigue of his routine studying and forced socialization before he made a lifestyle change.
Wright, who graduated Deerfield Academy in 1984, comically and ironically used his speech to “challenge the notion that crime doesn’t pay.” The California Superior Court judge recalled being a young boy in Compton defying the law, racial barriers and parental expectations in order to take his SSAT exam and mail in an application to Deerfield Academy.
“What I had to do to get counted amongst you was all worth it,” he said.
Toward the end of his address, Wright reiterated that the school’s impact will be felt within each student long after graduation as they “see echoes of (themselves) all over this campus.”
“As you have learned, if you work hard, you will learn a lot,” he said. “Enough to stick with you the rest of your lives.”
Chase Cherewatti of Sunderland, Tynan Creagh of Deerfield, Julia Hioe of South Deerfield, Camryn Howe of Deerfield, Kelly Howe of Deerfield, Blair Huang of Deerfield, Benjamin Martino of South Deerfield, Morgan Moriarty of Deerfield, Claire Patton of South Deerfield, Granger Savage of Deerfield, Julia Shulman of Sunderland, Holden Woodward of Northfield and Gabriel Zaccheo of Greenfield.
Grace Arcoleo of Amherst, Jake Fillion of Granby, Gabriella Foulkes of Amherst, Millie Gu of Amherst, Quinn Hampson of Amherst, Edward Hathaway of Northampton, Sara Ito-Bagshaw of Hadley, Kylie Kittredge of Amherst, Samuel Thiel of Amherst and Anna Zusi of Leeds.
Joseph LoChiatto of Feeding Hills, Robert Miele of Westfield and Lauren O’Donald of West Springfield.
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