St. Lawrence University, Canton, N.Y. (September 1964 to June 1965)

In her paper for Professor Timbres, Sandra wrote:

After I graduated from high school in Ottawa. I spent a year at an expensive “finishing school” in Boston and refused to go to college. College was the norm in my family and I took every opportunity to rebel against the norms. After a trip across country and a summer working in San Francisco, I changed my mind and returned to the East Coast, where I was able to enroll in St. Lawrence University in northern New York State at the last minute because I had high SAT scores. After two years, I left to spend a junior year at NYU’s program at the University of Madrid’s Facultad de Filosofía y Letras in Spain.

Context: St. Lawrence University is a private liberal arts college in the village of Canton, New York. It was founded in 1856 by leaders of the Universalist Church, who wanted to establish a seminary west of New England and were courted by the residents of Canton. By 1964, the university was non-denominational. In the 2021 edition of the U.S. News and World Report “Best Colleges”, St. Lawrence was ranked 54 among the more than 200 liberal arts colleges the publication listed. The Princeton Review also ranked it 4th for “best value” schools. It was recognized for having the Most Students Studying Abroad and for being “an A+ School for B students”. With Sandra’s high SAT score, she fit this profile, being capable of high grades but having under-performed at high school.

Sandra attributed her admission to St. Lawrence to the Dean of Admissions, Walter Baumhoff. She said that her grades in high school didn’t qualify her for admission, but Baumhoff, who was also Dean of Men, said that he would give her a chance.

St. Lawrence currently has an acceptance rate of 47.3%, requires a GPA of 3.6, and requires applicants to have at least a mix of A’s and B’s, with more A’s than B’s, although a lower GPA can be compensated for by harder classes. Sandra’s father shared with her, after admissions interview, that Dean Baumhoff had commented to him that Sandra seemed a bit of a “maverick.”

Sandra lived at Whitman Hall, where her best friend was Stephanie Polowe. Stephanie was from Rochester N.Y., and in the fall of 1964, was a sophomore.

Sandra and Stephanie had both chosen English Literature as their major. Their favorite professor was Dr. Karl Kiralis, pictured below, a Blake Scholar.

Sandra learned to play chess at Billy’s Bar, a local hangout where pitchers of cold beer on tap were shared by patrons.

Context: Billy’s was named for Lindon E. (Billy) Smith, who was born in Canton on April 19, 1927. He attended Canton schools, graduating from Canton High School in 1944. While in school, he managed all the sports teams. He attended Clarkson University, earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering in 1947. He was part owner and operator of Billy’s Restaurant and Bar which was named after him. He and his wife, Fran also owned a mink farm in the early 50’s. He later worked as a Superintendent of Construction for a local construction company until 1976. Billy’s bar was destroyed by fire in 1974 and Mr. Smith, died in 2015 at the age of 88.

In her freshman year, Sandra joined the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. She appears in the photo below, in the second row on the far right.