Our student handbook and policies make clear that Deerfield does not tolerate hateful speech. All members of the Deerfield Academy community are expected to abide by our Community Pledge: I will act with respect, integrity, and care for others, and I will seek to inspire the same values in our community and beyond; and to use these school values as a guide for day-to-day interactions, promoting a kind, caring, compassionate, ethical, and inclusive community for all.
Deerfield takes allegations of racist or insensitive behavior extremely seriously. In accordance with our internal policies and procedures, we investigate all claims as expeditiously and thoroughly as possible.
Deerfield Academy students are given abundant and meaningful opportunities to engage with intellectually diverse arguments, perspectives, and views; exposure to diverse and heterodox ideas inoculates students against unthinking conformity and uncritical orthodoxy, and remains a precondition for informed civic engagement.
We appreciate and encourage the ongoing discussion of our curriculum, including proposals for new courses on social justice and anti-racism, in addition to the courses we already offer. We currently offer a range of courses that explore a variety of issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. In the last few years, we have offered courses that delve into the work of Black novelists, poets, and playwrights; the historical and contemporary impact of telling the story of slavery in America; racial justice, reparations and the politics of historical remembrance; and the driving forces, machinery, and consequences of racism in the United States and across the globe.
The Deerfield Forum, launched in the Spring of 2021, provides regular, sustained and required opportunities for listening and conversation; models scholarly and civic engagement; and, by staging conversation among scholars, professionals, and civic leaders, promotes constructive dialogue and active open-mindedness.
We have in place sustained, coordinated, and ongoing support for faculty learning in the areas of inclusive instructional practices, including Summer Institutes and the principles detailed in Thriving in a World of Pluralistic Contention: A Framework for Schools, authored by our Head of School Dr. John Austin.
We rely on a variety of different efforts and initiatives to recruit and retain faculty of color, including out-of-cycle hiring, networking with alumni, retraining interviewers, holding open houses for candidates, visiting historically Black colleges and universities, and developing relationships with colleges and other organizations. Over the past three years, we have steadily increased our percentage of faculty of color from 14 percent to nearly 20 percent, according to the following priorities: African-Americans, Latinos, and Asians; “bridge” populations that are underrepresented in the community, particularly members of the LGBT community, religious minorities, and people who have taught or have been educated in public school; and “inclusion allies,” or people who don’t fall under the above categories but will actively support our diversity efforts.
In 2021 we appointed an Associate Dean of Faculty who is focused on enhancing outreach and recruitment of Black faculty and faculty of color. This Associate Dean works closely with the school’s leadership to improve all aspects of our recruitment, hiring, and retention strategy.
Through digital means, including our website, and printed materials such as Deerfield Magazine, the Academy shares reports on progress toward our goals in the areas of campus climate, faculty hiring, and curricular and instructional innovation.
Since 2009, Deerfield’s student of color population has risen from 20 percent to 40 percent. Race / Ethnicity is self-reported, and in the upcoming school year (2024 – 25) 44 percent of the student body is students of color; of that self-reported number, eight precent identify as Black.
Financial aid for students of color has increased by $4.3 million over the past 10 years and by more than $5 million over the past 20 years. Since 2010, the percentage of students receiving Financial Aid has grown from 30 percent to 40 percent, and in the last 20 years, total Financial Aid has grown from $3.6 million to nearly $14 million. Seeking the resources to sustain and deepen our commitment to access and Financial Aid will continue to be a priority for the Academy, its Trustees, and the Head of School.
In the past 20 years, the Supplemental Aid Budget has grown from just under $20,000 to $430,000. This increase has allowed the program to reach more students and better address the inequities of students on campus through increased funding for allowances, laundry, college visits, prom, clothing, and dorm room purchases.
To enhance programmatic access, we will continue to develop funds for supplemental financial aid, building on progress in this particular area over the last eight years, thanks to initiatives by the Office of Advancement and the Academy’s Director of Financial Aid Melissa Persons.
The number of grants awarded to students of color has increased from 61 in 2011-2012 to 120 in 2020-2021. This represents an increase from 30 percent of the total financial aid population to 49 percent of the total financial aid population.
To attract and yield a diverse student population and to support outreach to communities of color, in 2021 we appointed an Assistant Director of Multicultural Recruitment to work with longtime Senior Associate Director of Admission Jeff Armes, who was appointed Director of Multicultural Recruitment in February of 2020.
Primarily through the Academy’s Center for Service and Global Citizenship, Deerfield partners with a variety of local, national, and international non-profits and other organizations such as Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. In past years, Deerfield students have helped to raise funds for these and other organizations.
These organizations are doing important work, but we are committed to using Deerfield Academy resources in direct support of our students and their educations.
7 Boyden Lane, PO Box 87, Deerfield, MA 01342
NOTICE OF NONDISCRIMINATORY POLICY AS TO STUDENTS: Deerfield Academy admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.
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