The 2002-2003 academic year, which we are reporting on in this publication, seemed even more eventful and more replete with accomplishments of various kinds than the busy years to which we have become accustomed, one after another, at school. Nurtured by the faculty, and gladly accepting their leadership responsibilities, the Class of 2003 led us through the year in great style, and their achievements by the end of the year in virtually every field of endeavor will always attest to their excellence as a class. The visible evidence of success- in athletic results, debate tournaments, or college admission-is one thing; as I look back on the year, on the other hand, I think just as much about those things that may be less noticed, but which will surely be remembered for their historical importance to Deerfield. I suppose we all keep such a list in our minds. Here are some of the items on mine. We had great fun remembering the 100th anniversary of Mr. Boyden's arrival at Deerfield. "Boydenism"-and the occasional disagreement about what that term might mean-was the theme of our year, from the beginning to the end.

We were successfully reaccredited in October, after a yearlong self-study in which the entire faculty took part. It was certainly a productive experience for the school, beginning with the required evaluation of the headmaster by the board of trustees and ending with the affirmations of the Visiting Committee. Ty Tingley, the principal of Exeter and chairman of the committee, told me afterwards that Deerfield was, in his opinion, a school with real "validity," and I had the feeling that he does not use that term very often.

Historians will note that it was in the 2002-2003 year that we decided to build our new science, math and technology building, that instances of extraordinary generosity to Deerfield made that decision possible, and that the new building would be called the David H. Koch Center for Science, Mathematics and Technology. I know I don't have to dwell on the significance of what we have undertaken.

We continued to hold our place as the number one institution in Franklin County in employee giving to the United Way. I know I don't have to comment on the significance of that fact either, or how much it means to me.

In the same spirit, even as our budgetary belts are tightened, the board of trustees made it clear that they wanted Deerfield to uphold its commitment to faculty compensation and student financial aid. This has been of enormous importance to sustaining the quality and competitiveness of Deerfield. In this respect, as well as in so many others, I cannot possibly thank the board enough for its understanding and its leadership.

Last year we decided, in reply to an invitation that had been presented to us rather suddenly, that we would indeed host the Round Square International Congress in the fall of 2004. This will be an immense undertaking for the school, but one that will be full of satisfying dividends for everyone. The decision last year, and the congress next year, will without any doubt be remembered as important steps along the way of taking our place among schools worldwide that share the ideals of internationalism, democracy, environmental awareness, adventure, leadership and service.

Last year was the year, furthermore, when we appointed Reverend Elizabeth Clement to the new position of dean of spiritual and ethical life at Deerfield. Among the many things she has already done, as she guides the school in the reconsideration of its role in the overall development of our students, was to address the faculty and student body on Martin Luther King Day, making connections between the work of Boyden and King.

We dedicated our latest (and last, for the time being) new dormitory, Harold Webster Smith, which sits proudly just to the west of John Williams, where the Old Dorm used to be. While its design makes it look as if it has been there for 250 years, it now completes our residential plan that we began nine years ago. We have constructed John Louis and Louis Marx on the eastern side of campus, renovated Chapin as our community service and deans' center, upgraded Johnson Doubleday, made Ephraim Williams into the Alumni and Development Office and Hitchcock into our bookstore, added to Pocumtuck, rehabilitated John Williams, and improved every other dormitory along the way. The result is that we are in very good shape residentially and, just as important, we have lowered the ratio of students to faculty in residence, so that there as well as in the classroom we will sustain the Deerfield tradition of very close mentoring of our students.

Last year our four new fields in the South Meadows were regularly used for the first time. We now know that for as long as we can see into the future, every Deerfield team will always have a field of its own to play on; and that we will always be able to take at least one or two fields out of circulation to rest and restore them every year. Our new tennis courts were also completed last year, and the football field was irrigated and then re-sodded this past summer, in time for its dedication in November to Jim Smith, Deerfield's great coach from 1960-1996.

Most recently, in August of 2003, we had the first Deerfield Summer Institute, "Look to the Hills." For four days alumni, prospective and past parents, faculty and faculty emeriti gathered together, some of us teaching, others learning, but actually everyone doing quite a bit of both. Eight courses were taught over those days, which was no small management accomplishment in itself. But the good feeling we all had, representing the various constituencies of the larger Deerfield community, left just as deep an impression on us. As McKay Jenkins '81 said, "It was the thin and not always distinct line between nostalgia on the one hand, and very purposive engagement with issues that matter to all of us on the other that gave the Summer Institute such vitality." I will remember his observation, because it is a good description of the world I live in. It could easily apply to last June's reunion, and to everything that happens at reunion time when we seem to be looking backward and forward all at once. The simple pleasure that the Class of 1953 obviously took in greeting one another again, for example, was matched by their extraordinary generosity in the money that they had raised and presented to me in order to help us build the Koch Center.

In one way or another we all inhabit that world, journeying forward and backward, backward and forward. The purpose of Deerfield, I often think, is simply to recapitulate, again and again, that process for all of us.