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Deerfield Journal; 'Deerfield Boy' Is Wary Of Life After Gir
USINFO | 2013-12-06 15:09
In 10 minutes, the headmaster of Deerfield Academy would be breaking the news to many of his 560 boys."A few will hiss or boo," Robert E. Kaufmann predicted.
He drew more than raspberries. When Mr. Kaufmann informed the boys at 5:15 P.M. Saturday that girls would be admitted to Deerfield in 1989, dozens of the private high school's students, mostly seniors, walked out in protest. Pouring from the doors of the campus dining hall, they proudly sang the school song, beginning, ''The sons of Deerfield rally in thoughts of boyhood days.'' The singing drowned out Mr. Kaufmann inside.
Then they chanted, "Better dead than coed.'' Someone even played taps."I'm pretty bummed out," said Porter Schutt, an 18-year-old senior from Chadds Ford, Pa.
Don't get the boys wrong. They really don't hate girls, and they really don't think they are chauvinist pigs for wanting to keep Deerfield and its idyllic setting in western Massachusetts to themselves.
Instead, they played taps to mourn the passing of something very special, the ''Deerfield Boy.'' Born sometime in the last 191 years, he died Saturday, Jan. 30, 1988. From now on, it will be the ''Deerfield person.''
The notion of the Deerfield Boy cuts to the heart of what this institution, the last of the big New England all-male prep schools, is all about.
Some sense of that idealized boy probably existed before 1902, the year Frank L. Boyden became headmaster. It was in Mr. Boyden's mind, however, that the ideal coalesced that the Deerfield Boy was intelligent, but more important, well-rounded, and placed a high value on ethics, morals and sportsmanship.
Mr. Boyden remained headmaster for 66 years, becoming a legend to the boys, in whom he tried to instill these qualities, and to educators.
His successors have labored under the weight of the Boyden legacy. That may be a big reason why it has taken until 1988 for Deerfield's leaders to embrace coeducation, a switch made years ago by the other big-name New England private schools. Deerfield had permitted girls from the surrounding area to attend until 1948, when Mr. Boyden discontinued the practice.
On Saturday, the board voted 20 to 2 to reopen Deerfield's doors.
For years, the weight of tradition had bowed not only to the prevailing views about equality of the sexes but also to broad demographic shifts that were manifest in declining applications and a clear preference among applicants for coeducation.
In addition, most of the 95 faculty members and administrators, about 25 percent of whom are women, have long favored admitting girls.
Even if faculty members think boys cannot have a complete education or preparation for the outside world in the absence of girls, the boys say they love this place for what it is now.
They were not shy about letting Mr. Kaufmann or the trustees know how they feel. The student newspaper, The Scroll, editorialized against the change in the 10 months it was under discussion. On Saturday morning, several campus buildings were adorned with signs reminding the trustees of the school's motto: ''Be worthy of your heritage.''
When asked what they like about single-sex education, the boys talked about the value of male friendship and comradeship - and the distraction that girls would bring.
"You get a lot more done without girls. I know it's unnatural but it's an option that works here,"said Michael Scherotter, a 17-year-old senior from Palm Springs, Calif., who heads the student activities committee.
Douglas R. Gortner, Deerfield's assistant development director, said the presence of girls would inhibit something he and the students say they find special about Deerfield: the ability to show enthusiasm without fear of social repercussion. ''The last thing you want to do is look silly in front of a girl,'' said Mr. Gortner.
It was only fitting that on Saturday night, dozens of girls should be bused in from a few of the region's all-girl private schools for a long-planned semi-formal party.
But even the visiting girls had some doubts about the move to coeducation at Deerfield. "It was one of the funnest places to visit," observed Aimee Burgert, a 15-year-old from Tallahassee, Fla., who attends Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Conn. "They won't invite us once the girls go here."
He drew more than raspberries. When Mr. Kaufmann informed the boys at 5:15 P.M. Saturday that girls would be admitted to Deerfield in 1989, dozens of the private high school's students, mostly seniors, walked out in protest. Pouring from the doors of the campus dining hall, they proudly sang the school song, beginning, ''The sons of Deerfield rally in thoughts of boyhood days.'' The singing drowned out Mr. Kaufmann inside.
Then they chanted, "Better dead than coed.'' Someone even played taps."I'm pretty bummed out," said Porter Schutt, an 18-year-old senior from Chadds Ford, Pa.
Don't get the boys wrong. They really don't hate girls, and they really don't think they are chauvinist pigs for wanting to keep Deerfield and its idyllic setting in western Massachusetts to themselves.
Instead, they played taps to mourn the passing of something very special, the ''Deerfield Boy.'' Born sometime in the last 191 years, he died Saturday, Jan. 30, 1988. From now on, it will be the ''Deerfield person.''
The notion of the Deerfield Boy cuts to the heart of what this institution, the last of the big New England all-male prep schools, is all about.
Some sense of that idealized boy probably existed before 1902, the year Frank L. Boyden became headmaster. It was in Mr. Boyden's mind, however, that the ideal coalesced that the Deerfield Boy was intelligent, but more important, well-rounded, and placed a high value on ethics, morals and sportsmanship.
Mr. Boyden remained headmaster for 66 years, becoming a legend to the boys, in whom he tried to instill these qualities, and to educators.
His successors have labored under the weight of the Boyden legacy. That may be a big reason why it has taken until 1988 for Deerfield's leaders to embrace coeducation, a switch made years ago by the other big-name New England private schools. Deerfield had permitted girls from the surrounding area to attend until 1948, when Mr. Boyden discontinued the practice.
On Saturday, the board voted 20 to 2 to reopen Deerfield's doors.
For years, the weight of tradition had bowed not only to the prevailing views about equality of the sexes but also to broad demographic shifts that were manifest in declining applications and a clear preference among applicants for coeducation.
In addition, most of the 95 faculty members and administrators, about 25 percent of whom are women, have long favored admitting girls.
Even if faculty members think boys cannot have a complete education or preparation for the outside world in the absence of girls, the boys say they love this place for what it is now.
They were not shy about letting Mr. Kaufmann or the trustees know how they feel. The student newspaper, The Scroll, editorialized against the change in the 10 months it was under discussion. On Saturday morning, several campus buildings were adorned with signs reminding the trustees of the school's motto: ''Be worthy of your heritage.''
When asked what they like about single-sex education, the boys talked about the value of male friendship and comradeship - and the distraction that girls would bring.
"You get a lot more done without girls. I know it's unnatural but it's an option that works here,"said Michael Scherotter, a 17-year-old senior from Palm Springs, Calif., who heads the student activities committee.
Douglas R. Gortner, Deerfield's assistant development director, said the presence of girls would inhibit something he and the students say they find special about Deerfield: the ability to show enthusiasm without fear of social repercussion. ''The last thing you want to do is look silly in front of a girl,'' said Mr. Gortner.
It was only fitting that on Saturday night, dozens of girls should be bused in from a few of the region's all-girl private schools for a long-planned semi-formal party.
But even the visiting girls had some doubts about the move to coeducation at Deerfield. "It was one of the funnest places to visit," observed Aimee Burgert, a 15-year-old from Tallahassee, Fla., who attends Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Conn. "They won't invite us once the girls go here."
