Every year since 1922, Choate athletic teams have competed against Deerfield Academy during the last weekend of the fall term. Here in Wallingford, this day is known as Deerfield Day, and the week leading up to it is called Spirit Week. During the week, school spirit runs high and students participate in a variety of Choate traditions. But, have you ever wondered how Spirit Week at Choate compares to what’s known as “Choate Week” at Deerfield?
During Spirit Week, Choate students dress up according to the theme of the day, as announced by the pep squad, Boar Pen. One community favorite is “Dress Like Deerfield Day,” where Choate students wear collared shirts, blazers, ties, and pleated skirts, as a way of teasing Deerfield’s stricter dress code and “preppy” stereotype.
Similarly, Deerfield students dress up each day of the week to match a certain theme, one of which is always “Dress Like Choate Day.” Dr. Edrik Lopez, who taught English at Deerfield during the 2016-17 school year before coming to Choate, said, “People come in dressed like they don’t care, like they have just been run over by a motorcycle and dragged through the mud and a horse just picked them up.” Deerfield’s stereotype regarding Choate is that students are dirty, leave their rooms messy, and don’t wash their clothes, though Dr. Lopez added that this perception is a “winked-at thing.”
Also, mascot-related ribbing is as strong at Deerfield as it is at Choate, where students love making fun of Deerfield’s unthreatening door. At Deerfield, bacon-grilling stations are set up across the campus all week long; the bacon, of course, is meant to represent the Choate boar. On Deerfield Day itself, a favorite chant among Deerfield students is “I smell bacon!”
Emily Feng, a senior at Deerfield, explained that one of her favorite traditions is the battle cry. Someone will call out another student’s name twice followed by “Don’t be shy! Do the Deerfield battle cry!” The student called out has to shout out “V-I-C-T-O-R-Y” — then, everyone in the building or dining hall will respond with “Defeat Choate!” Feng explained, “In the dining hall, you can get ‘battle-cried’ out of nowhere, and it’s funny to listen to other people. If you don’t do it, you get booed.”
On the Friday night before Deerfield Day, Choate students attend a pep rally led by Boar Pen, the pep squad on campus. Brooke Edwards ’22, whose favorite part of Spirit Week is the pep rally, said, “It’s a night where all of the varsity sports teams will come out and perform. So they can do a skit, a video, really anything.” The height of the pep rally is when students kick down a door symbolizing their nemesis. Weather permitting, students then head to the field after the pep rally for a bonfire to burn a large wooden fire-breathing dragon, representing Deerfield.
Over at Deerfield, students also gather for a pep rally led by cheerleaders and Captain Deerfield. The cheerleaders are a coed group of students selected to generate school spirit at events. Captain Deerfield is a student elected by the entire student body who serves as the leader of the cheerleaders. During the pep rally, Captain Deerfield wears a special hat and carries a stick, and later leads the crowd to a field for their bonfire. Here a ten- to fifteen-foot-tall letter “C,” painted gold and blue, is burned at the bonfire, and the chants and cheers continue.
Another tradition that exists around the event at both schools is the dance. Choate has both a pre-games dance and — should they win — a victory dance, while Deerfield only has a post-Choate-Day dance. Despite Choate’s extra dance, Dr. Lopez noted that more events happen at Deerfield during Choate week than at Choate during Spirit Week. This, he said, is because “Deerfield loves to ‘hate’ Choate more than we ‘hate’ Deerfield.” Adaugo Nwaokoro, a sophomore at Deerfield, echoed this sentiment. She said, “The atmosphere on campus is very lively. Deerfield spirit is definitely raised the week leading up to Choate day and everyone is very pumped to go out and compete.”
Through all the similarities and differences between Choate’s and Deerfield’s school spirit, there is no denying that both schools bring competitive spirit to these final games. Beyond tomorrow’s sports competitions and a burning rivalry, the two schools each have their own unique rituals, which have survived for over a century. Diego Maldonado-Alvarez ’22, a member of Boar Pen, said, “Every single person at the school is cheering for one thing and one thing only, which is beating Deerfield.”
