The History of Dorm Snacks

Dorm feeds, a snack provided for students after study hall, are a long standing tradition at Deerfield. Since before the 1980s, dorm snacks have been integrated into the Deerfield schedule for students to unwind after studying and enjoy food. 

Although almost every student will enjoy a dorm snack sometime in their Deerfield career, most students do not know the logistics behind this tradition. Dorm residents, and proctors are given a budget at the beginning of each school year. Proctors are given $50 for each student, and dorm residents are given $60-$70 per student. Oftentimes dorm residents will combine their budgets with each other because they receive a budget for one side of the hall, but not the other half. 

Student proctors also have the option to hold a dorm snack once a week. John Louis Proctor Allie Corrieri ‘25 said, “Jennifer [Luiru ’25, her partner proctor] and I will DoorDash something, print it [the receipt], and bring it to the SLO, so that they can approve it, and then we can go to the Finance Office to get reimbursed.” For dorm residents, it is almost exactly the same process, though, according to John Louis Dorm Resident and Math Teacher Callie Gray, some use their school credit card to pay for dorm snacks. 

Dorm residents often try to serve hot food or frozen treats because dorm associates and proctors do not generally have access to this kind of food. Mrs. Gray said, “I like to give feeds where [students] have to put something together, like make your own ice cream sandwiches, or nachos because they are very tactile foods, and [students] seem to be more involved [in the activity].” Saadia Ouermi ‘27 said “my favorite dorm feed is when Ms. Bicknell gave us oats, fruit, and vanilla greek yogurt, but my favorite part of dorm feeds is how close my hall is.”

Some dorm residents even bake their own feeds, Alice Wu ‘25 shared that “in Poc[umtuck], my dorm resident, Mr. L[eitermann-Long], made sourdough and white bread, along with cheese, jams, and sausages–all made by himself! It was a huge hit in Poc.” Corrieri shared that her favorite dorm snacks were “the charcuterie boards from Ms. McVaugh on Tuesday nights on Poc II.”

Deerfield instituted dorm snacks to build hall bonding and establish a designated social time for students. Mrs. Gray said, dorm feeds are “a really nice moment to come out from individual studying, and be social, see your friends, and let out that last bit of energy before going to bed.” As Dean of Residential Life Dr. Becca Melvoin said, “It aligns with Deerfield’s values of face-to-face interactions and finding time for joy and playfulness. It also aligns with Deerfield’s high engagement model which focuses on strong connections between students and adults.” As Luiru said, “The best memory in every dorm feed is that there is always laughter.” 

The tradition of Dorm feeds continued during COVID-19, however they were slightly different. Mrs. Gray said, “It was a weird time for feeds, I still believed in it, but I had to leave individual brownies outside of everyone’s doors”, and although they did not have the same amount of face-to-face interaction as the normal dorm feed would entail, Mrs. Gray said that they “did have Zoom jeopardy and other things.” 

From building culture to acting as a social time for students, dorm feeds are a much-loved tradition in the Deerfield community. This 45 minute tradition has allowed students to have home-cooked dishes, put down their phones, and socialize with each other before curfew.