DEERFIELD — Amid the sounds of rain and bagpipes, nearly 200 Deerfield Academy graduates marched into their future on Sunday morning. And while these new graduates will leave the school, Deerfield Academy will always be a part of who they are, commencement speakers said.
“Deerfield will remain forever a part of your lives,” Leila Govi, a member of the Class of 1993, told attendees.
Govi, who serves as president of the school’s board of trustees, is also the mother of a new Deerfield Academy graduate.
“Deerfield does remain in your memories, in the way you show up for others and in the kind of person you become,” she said. “This is what your parents hoped for when they sent you to Deerfield. This is Deerfield at its best.”
Head of School John Austin noted that an act to establish the school in 1797 was signed by then-Gov. Samuel Adams, one of the signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, because Adams believed in education “for the greater common good.”
Adams believed that education and “responsible thought” would support and protect the freedoms we symbolically celebrate on July 4. “Ours is one of the only forms of government protecting public debate. … When seen in context, it suggests dialogue, compromise, reason-giving and pluralism — so that young people could gather. They are not simply learning how to think, but learning how to respect, relate and work across lines of difference.
“Class of 2026, you have done this beautifully; you’ve lifted one another and made one another better,” Austin continued. “What distinguishes your class is not just what you’ve done individually, but what you’ve created together. Your journey is now a part of the Deerfield [Academy] story.”
Senior addresses were given by Ellora Devitre and Patrick Zhang. Zhang spoke of how his friends at Deerfield Academy helped him deal with the suicide of a close grade-school friend.
“Never think that you are all alone,” he told his classmates. “Cherish the people you call your friends. Love them. Call them. Don’t just text. Deerfield is built upon the fact that we show up for each other.”
Elliot Ackerman, a New York Times best-selling author and former U.S. Marine with five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, briefly described his school days at the Georgetown Day School.
Ackerman said he joined the Marines because he “wanted to do something hard.” In 2004, Ackerman ran into a former Georgetown classmate in Fallujah, where Ackerman led a Marine rifle platoon in battle. The two Georgetown Day School alumni posed for a photo while in uniform with a cardboard sign bearing the school sports motto: “Go Hoppers.”
The photo is still on display in the school. “That photo is part of our school’s heritage now,” he said. “Most of you are headed off to universities which have very big heritages. … “This day is the moment of divergence — the last day you will sit together as one. But rest assured, you will find each other later.”
Citing the school’s motto, “Be Worthy of Your Heritage,” Ackerman concluded, “After this day, you will live your school’s motto. It’s about being true to an institution and to yourself. Class of 2026, you will forever be a part of Deerfield Academy.”
Franklin County graduates
Sungmin Ahn, Greenfield; Campbell Ardrey, Deerfield; Lauren Galli, Deerfield; Rory Hartblay, Leverett; Cooper Johnson, South Deerfield; Luca Lyons, Deerfield; Griffin Mariani, Montague; Ruby Remillard, Greenfield; Hazel Secker, Deerfield; Jadin Smith, Deerfield.
Hampshire County graduates
Owen Babb, West Whately; Beckett Baird, Amherst; Jeanne Mangan Larouche, Northampton; Reid McCoy, West Whately; Charlotte Rolland, Easthampton; Daisy Rolland, Easthampton; Cole Rorick, Granby; Oscar Sanford, Northampton; Henry Shearer, Amherst; Nicholas Smiarowski, Hatfield; Melody Zhao, Amherst.