Sarah Lawrence College
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Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York.[3][4] Originally a women's college, Sarah Lawrence became coeducational in 1968.
History
Establishment and development (20th century)
Sarah Lawrence College was established in 1926 by the real-estate mogul
Harold Taylor, President of Sarah Lawrence College from 1945 to 1959, greatly influenced the college. Taylor was elected president at age 30, maintained a friendship with the educational philosopher John Dewey, and worked to employ the Dewey method at Sarah Lawrence. Taylor spent much of his career calling for educational reform in the United States, using the success of Sarah Lawrence as an example of the possibilities of a personalized, modern, and rigorous approach to higher education.[7]
Sarah Lawrence became a coeducational institution in 1968. Prior to this transition, there were discussions about relocating the school and merging it with Princeton University, but the administration opted to remain independent.[8]
Larry Ray scandal (2010)
In 2010, Lawrence V. "Larry" Ray, born Lawrence Grecco (then 50),
In February 2020, he was charged by prosecutors in Manhattan with conspiracy, extortion, sex trafficking, forced labor, and other related offenses, following nearly 10 years of alleged transgressions with students and former students.[16][17][14] Ray was convicted on all counts and sentenced to 60 years in prison.[18][19]
College presidents
The first president of the college was
Academic rankings
Forbes[23] | 467 | |
---|---|---|
WSJ / College Pulse[24] | 200 |
In 2007, criticism of
On June 19, 2007, following a meeting of the
In 2022, Forbes rated it 467th overall in its America's Top Colleges ranking, which includes 660 military academies, national universities, and liberal arts colleges. That same year, Washington Monthly rankings ranked Sarah Lawrence 155th in the liberal arts college category.
Political involvement and activism
Campus
Much of the 42-acre (17 ha) Sarah Lawrence campus was originally a part of the estate of the college's founder, William Van Duzer Lawrence, though the college has more than doubled its size since Lawrence bequeathed his estate to the college in 1926. The terrain is characterized by dramatic outcroppings of exposed bedrock shaded by large oak and elm trees. Many of the older buildings are in the Tudor Revival architecture style that was popular in the area during the early 20th century, and many of the college's newer buildings attempt an updated interpretation of the same style. The campus is divided into two distinctive sections, the "Old Campus" and the "New Campus": the first is roughly contained within the boundaries of the former Lawrence estate, and the area of the second was acquired sometime after the college's earliest years.
The area outside the original Lawrence estate holds the college's newer facilities. Several stately, century-old, Tudor-style mansions will be found among these newer additions, including Andrews, Tweed, Lynd, Marshall Field, and Slonim House: each was once a private estate, purchased by the college during periods of growth and expansion. The more modest Tudor houses along Mead Way, which also had been private residences, now serve as dormitories for students at the college. "Slonim Woods" is a group of newer, townhouse-style dormitories, built on the grounds of Slonim House.
The Campbell Sports Center was constructed in 1998 in response to an increased focus on physical fitness and sports. This facility includes an indoor pool, gymnasium, track, squash courts, and weight rooms.
In 2004, the college completed construction of a modern visual arts facility, the Monika A. and Charles A. Heimbold Visual Arts Center, with sleek architecture and environmentally friendly aspects which earned the college national press attention. Just down the road is Hill House, a six-story apartment building purchased by the college in the late 1990s that now lodges students. Across the street from Hill House is the large Wrexham house, also in the Tudor style, which the college purchased from the government of Rwanda in 2004; this building, once home to the Rwandan consul, has been renovated and is used for various postgraduate programs. At the opposite end of the campus stands the Science and Mathematics Center, completed in 1994.
Buildings
Academic facilities
- The Barbara Walters Campus Center is the newest building on campus. Finished in the fall of 2019, the building is named for alumna Barbara Walters. The building boasts a flexible multipurpose space which is used for dances, speeches, class gatherings, etc. On the second floor is the Barbara Walters Reading Room. It includes a rotating exhibition, but currently holds artifacts from Barbara Walters' life. The building has a green roof energy efficient LED lighting.
- Bates Center for Student Life is one of the original campus buildings. A huge facility designed in the English Tudor style that is common in the area, it has housed not just offices and classrooms, but everything from maids' quarters to dining halls to laboratories and arts facilities. At one time, it was home to a miniature basketball court that is now a faculty dining room, though the lines of the court can still be seen on the floors. Over the years, programs in science, visual arts, and physical education have grown to the point that they have spilled over elsewhere on the campus, requiring three buildings of their own. Bates has always been home to the college's main dining facility and also houses the popular "Health Food Bar."[32]
- The Esther Raushenbush Library, designed in 1974 by Walter, Burns, Toan & Lundein an architectural style meant to interpret in a more modern and sleek fashion the implied buttresses and strong features of its much older neighbor, Andrews House.[33] The Raushenbush Library houses over 300,000 volumes.[34]
- The Alice Stone Ilchman Science and Mathematics Center, completed in 1994, is situated on the far north end of the campus. It houses science laboratories in addition to classrooms and faculty offices. The building is named for former president Alice Stone Ilchman.[35]
- The Marshall Field Music Building was originally created as part of William Lawrence's residential neighborhood, Lawrence Park West. Built in the Georgian Colonial style, it was situated on 3 acres (12,000 m2) of landscaped land when the college purchased it in 1960 to house the music department and to provide additional student housing. Prior to the purchase, President Harold Taylor played his clarinet in several of the rooms to test the acoustics.[36]
- The Monica A. and Charles A. Heimbold Visual Arts Center The building was designed by Polshek Partnership Architects. Completed in 2004, the building has garnered national press for its 'green' design. Relating to the college's stated goals, the building engages the landscape and existing campus circulation patterns, promotes student engagement through transparency, and takes a leadership role in sustainable design. The jury applauded its inventive use of materials; consistent development of the project in relation to the original concept; well-integrated plan/section; and exemplary use of building siting, solar orientation, daylighting, and locally quarried fieldstone to achieve LEED certification. The American Institute of Architects awarded a special 'Sustainable Architecture Honor Award' to the project as well as First Honor Awards at its 2005 "Celebration of Architecture".[37][38]
- The Campbell Sports Center – One of the newest buildings on campus, the Sports Center was completed in 1997 and houses a swimming pool, a rowing tank, a weight room and exercise center, an indoor running track, squash courts, a basketball court, classrooms, locker rooms, and administrative offices.[39]
- The Charles DeCarlo Performing Arts Center, remodeled and greatly expanded in 1974, is a large facility on the western end of the South Lawn.Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, and rehearsal spaces and work areas. The college bookstore is located in the PAC.[41]
- The Ruth Leff Siegel Center, which is almost exclusively referred to as "The Pub", was originally constructed as a gardener's cottage on the Lawrence estate, then used as an infirmary and later as a faculty house. When the college began admitting male students in 1968, it became temporary housing for men. During the 1970s, the space was remodeled and christened "The Pub" for use as an informal dining hall and as a space for student activities. During the 1980s, it was renamed "Charlie's Place", honoring former President DeCarlo. In 1998, the entire structure was renovated, an addition was built by the architects Buttrick White & Burtis, and the new complex took on its current official name. Today, it houses primarily a café serving on-the-go food, as well as two TV lounges.[42]
- The Tea House, also known as the "Tea Haus", because its façade evokes German architectural motifs, was originally a gazebo built by the Lawrence family on a small rocky hill on the north lawn of their estate. After being saved by a student petition from a demolition that was called for by architect Philip Johnson in 1960, it was converted to an enclosed building with large windows and a fireplace that now houses a café selling a variety of teas and baked goods. While it is a fact that the building housed the office of history faculty member Charles Trinkaus from the 1950s through 1970, there seems to be no evidence to support the persistent campus rumor that the Tea House was once the office of long-time faculty member Joseph Campbell.
Administration buildings
- Andrews Annex, built in the 1990s adjacent to Andrews House, houses a number of administrative offices.
- Lyles House is home to the college's Health Services Center.
- The President's House, built in 1921 and designed by architect Louis Bowman of McKim, Mead & White, is an example of 16th century Tudor-style architecture. Its living room features restored carved beams, representing the various trades, from a 16th-century Tudor mansion in England. Additionally, above the mantel a Christian creation story is told in intricate wood carving. Campus legend dictates that a secret panel exists in the living room leading to a wine cellar, which was built during Prohibition. The President's House has housed the college's presidents since 1954, when the first President's House, located north of campus, was demolished to make way for the Sprain Brook Parkway.[43]
- Robinson House on Mead Way is home to the college's communications department. Until 1952, it housed "The Caf", a student coffee shop, on its main floor.
- Westlands is primarily an administrative building, but its top floor houses a number of student living spaces. Completed in 1917, it is the oldest building on campus and was home to Sarah Bates Lawrence and New York Times. It has been the heart of the campus throughout the history of the college and, owing to its massive size, it now houses the president's offices, the Office of Admission, the Office of Financial Aid, the Office of the Registrar, the Office of International Programs, the Career Counseling Office, the offices of all of the college's deans, and a number of meeting spaces in addition to the top-floor dorms.
- The Wrexham Road Property, acquired by the college in 2004, is a large manor house that once belonged to the government of Rwanda and used as a home for its consul. The building currently houses various graduate-level programs.
Housing
- Andrews House, a former manor house purchased for $200,000 by the college in 1935 from Arthur Lawrence, a son of the college's founders, is known for its high ceilings, fireplaces, and its spiraling main staircase. The house is designed in the Germantown Colonial Style by architect Penrose Scott. The majority of the building houses students, but it is also the home of the college's Department of Operations and Facilities and to the offices of Writing faculty.
- Andrews Court refers to the twelve cottage-style buildings to the south of Andrews House. Built in 1974, the buildings have, on average, about eight units each in addition to full kitchens, living rooms, and bathrooms.[33]
- Tweed, a former manor house, is home to a number of large dorm rooms in addition to a pair of classrooms.
- Curtis is home to a number of dorms, and is also part of the Early Childhood Education complex.
- Lynd House, another former mansion, is home to mostly living spaces. The building's adjacent carriage house has been converted into student housing.
- Hill House, bought by the college in the late 1990s, is a seven-story apartment building on the extreme southern end of the campus. At present, the majority of the apartments in the building are occupied by students, but a number of them remain in the possession of the original tenants who occupied them when the building was purchased by Sarah Lawrence. Most of the apartments are quite large and each has a full kitchen. Apartments on the upper floors with south-facing windows have, on clear days, a view of the Empire State Building.
- Kober is home to dorm rooms, but is also a part of the Early Childhood Education complex. It was donated to the college in 1951 by Otto Frohnknecht in memory of his daughter, Margaret Frohnknecht Kober, who graduated from Sarah Lawrence in 1935. There was once a bowling alley in its basement.
- Morrill is the former maid's quarters to the President's House, and now is home to faculty offices.
- Slonim House was formerly a manor house that is now occupied by dorms and by the college's Center for Continuing Education and Office of Graduate Studies.
- Slonim Woods is the group of 10 purpose-built living facilities constructed in 1977. They consist of eight single person dorm rooms arranged around a central communal living space.
Old dorms
The "Old dorms" refer to four original purpose-built student housing structures to the immediate north of Westlands in what is frequently referred to as the "central campus". Dudley Lawrence, one of the sons of William and Sarah Lawrence, achieved the remarkable feat of constructing three of these buildings in one year (1926–1927). The halls were designed by William Augustus Bates, who repeated the Neo-Tudor style of Westlands through the use of stone and timber materials, and mansard roofs. The interiors are also in keeping with the English Tudor architectural style found on most of the older buildings in the area, with thick plaster walls, hardwood floors, and leaded windows (since replaced with more energy-efficient double-pane windows). MacCracken, built a few years later than the other three, is situated to the south of Dudley Lawrence. The original elegant living rooms that were found in each building, excepting MacCracken, are now used as classrooms.[46]
- Dudley Lawrence, houses two classrooms in addition to living spaces. It is named for William Lawrence's son, who oversaw the construction of the Old Dorms.
- OSilas, originally named Gilbert for one of the college's original trustees, is the northernmost building of the four and is known for being quiet and populated with the college's more studious set.
- MacCracken, named for Vassar College president Henry Noble MacCracken, is a few years younger than its neighbors and has, at various times, housed the college library, the bookstore, and a number of other facilities in addition to living spaces. Although it still serves as a dormitory, it now also houses dance studios, meeting spaces, and administrative offices.
- Titsworth is an all-girls dorm and was also named for one of the college's founding trustees. It occupies the space between Gilbert and Dudley Lawrence and is also home to the Titsworth Lecture Hall.
New dorms
Designed by the renowned architect Philip Johnson in the sparse modernist style of the time, the "New Dorms" were completed in 1960. The architectural style of the buildings is meant to be a modernist reflection of the three older dorms (Gilbert, Titsworth, and Dudley Lawrence) that stand on the opposite side of the North Lawn. The three buildings that comprise the New Dorms are connected by two glass atria in which the buildings' primary stairwells are found. With the exception of the large apartments in Rothschild, these dorms typically house first-year students.
- Rothschild comprises apartment style, air-conditioned dorm spaces with kitchens, living rooms, and an elevator. The basement houses a number of small classrooms and studios in use predominantly by the theater department.
- Garrison is a traditional dormitory-style building with shared bathrooms.
- Taylor is nearly a replica in the design of its neighbor, Garrison.
The Mead Way houses
The Mead Way Houses are the eight former private homes that stand along the steep hill of Mead Way on the college's eastern end. The two southernmost houses, Robinson and Swinford, are occupied by administrative offices and the office of the campus internet radio station, and the northernmost six houses, listed below, are reserved for student living spaces. The northern houses include:
- Brebner House
- Mansell House
- Morris House
- Perkins House
- Schmidt House
- Warren Green House
Athletics
Sarah Lawrence College is the member of
The college left the Hudson Valley conference after the 2013–14 season and joined the
The college's official mascot is a
Notable people
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Barbara Walters, journalist
-
Yoko Ono, artist and activist
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Sigourney Weaver, actress
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Carrie Fisher, actress and writer
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J. J. Abrams, filmmaker
-
Carly Simon, musician
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Linda McCartney, photographer, activist and businesswoman
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Vera Wang, fashion designer
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Julianna Margulies, actress
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Rahm Emanuel, diplomat and politician
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Cary Elwes, actor
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Win Butler, musician (Arcade Fire)
-
Ira Kaplan, musical artist (Yo La Tengo)
-
Louise Gluck, poet and Nobel laureate
Faculty
Among the prominent current or recent faculty of the college are fine art photographer
Entertainment industry and performance arts
Sarah Lawrence alums who have entered the entertainment industry include film directors J. J. Abrams, Brian De Palma, Jordan Peele, producer Joshua D. Maurer, Laura Bickford, news personality Barbara Walters, and TV writer and author Noah Hawley. It was also referenced in the 1981
- Fine Arts — Alumni who are successful artists include Janine Antoni (sculptor and performance artist), Cady Noland (conceptual sculptor and installation artist), Judith Inglese (artist, ceramic muralist and children's book illustrator), Jedd Novatt (sculptor and painter), Alice Brock (artist and retired restaurateur, of "Alice's Restaurant" fame),[52] and Yoko Ono (artist, performance artist and musician) who studied music.[53]
- Dance — Alumni of the dance department at the college include Fulbright Scholar recipient Robin Gee, and choreographer John Jasperse.
Politics
Alumni involved in politics include
Fashion
Vera Wang, fashion designer and former Vogue editor, and Paul Johnson Calderon, television personality and fashion journalist, attended Sarah Lawrence.
Literature and biography
Alice Walker, the author of The Color Purple, is an alumna. Ann Patchett, author of Bel Canto, is a graduate, as is Donna Raskin, book author and magazine writer; Constance Cappel, author; and Louise Glück, a poet and winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature. Alumna Nancy Huston is the author of numerous works and recipient of the Prix Femina in 2006 for the novel Lignes de faille (English translation: Fault Lines).
- Elizabeth Eslami, Iranian American essayist, novelist, and short story writer.
- Melissa Febos, award-winning author of Whip Smart, Abandon Me, and the national bestseller, Girlhood, is a graduate of the MFA program.
- Carolyn Ferrell, short story writer and novelist.
- Maggie Haberman, author and Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter.
- Randa Jarrar, Arab-American writer and professor at Fresno State University.
- Porochista Khakpour, Iranian American journalist, essayist, and novelist.
- Playwright and lyricist David Lindsay-Abaire won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Rabbit Hole.
- Derek B. Miller, novelist and author of Norwegian by Night, The Girl in Green, and American by Day.
- Isaac Oliver, author of Intimacy Idiot, playwright, and comic.
- Julie Shigekuni, novelist and professor at the University of New Mexico, MFA graduate.
- Brandon Shimoda, poet and author of several books including one that won the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America.
- Marguerite Yourcenar taught French and Italian there in the 1940s.
- Deborah Feldman, author of several books including Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots and Exodus: A Memoir. The Netflix mini-series Unorthodox was loosely based on Feldman's biography.
References
- ^ As of June 30, 2020. U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2020 Endowment Market Value and Change in Endowment Market Value from FY19 to FY20 (Report). National Association of College and University Business Officers and TIAA. February 19, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Sarah Lawrence College At-a-Glance". Retrieved March 2, 2018.
- ^ Sarah Lawrence College At-a-Glance ("Sarah Lawrence College occupies 44 wooded acres in Yonkers, NY"). Retrieved March 2, 2018.
- ^ The Village of Bronxville ("Although nearby Sarah Lawrence College, founded in 1926 by William Lawrence to honor his wife, has a Bronxville postal address, it is actually located in Yonkers.") Retrieved March 29, 2014.
- ^ "Sarah Lawrence College". Forbes. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
- ^ a b Kaplan, Barbara (January 29, 2014). Becoming Sarah Lawrence. Sarah Lawrence College. Archived from the original on February 4, 2014.
- ^ Lambert, Bruce (February 10, 1993). "Harold Taylor, Novel Educator And College President, Dies at 78". The New York Times. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
- ^ "Sarah Lawrence College". Times Higher Education (THE). Retrieved July 11, 2017.
- ^ People Magazine. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
- ^ Marcus, Ezra; Walsh, James D. (February 26, 2020), The Stolen Kids of Sarah Lawrence: What happened to the group of bright college students who fell under the sway of a classmate's father?, The Cut, retrieved May 12, 2020
- ^ "How Lawrence V. Ray Was Able to Form a Sex Cult at Sarah Lawrence College" FRANCISCO ALVARADO, A&E Television Networks, SEPTEMBER 27, 2022. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
Ray made steak dinners, regaled his daughter's friends with tales of his time in the marines and psy-ops for the CIA, promised to help some maximize their potential. It was off-putting to some, entrancing to others.
- ^ "EXCLUSIVE: Man speaks out about college sex cult mastermind living in his apartment". ABC7 New York. February 22, 2020. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
The cult allegedly started when Ray moved into his daughter's Sarah Lawrence college dorm room in 2010, then a year later moved into Chen's Upper East Side condo.
- ^ a b Armitage, Rebecca (February 12, 2023). "How a dad moved into his daughter's dorm at Sarah Lawrence College and turned it into his own cult". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
- ^ "Larry Ray and the Cult of Cruelty at Sarah Lawrence College". The CrimeWire. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
In 2013, Daniel, Talia, Isabella, and Claudia graduated from Sarah Lawrence College.
- ^ Salcedo, Andrea (February 13, 2020). "What We Know About the Sarah Lawrence Trafficking Case". The New York Times. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
- ^ Ottoman, Sharon (February 12, 2020). "The Bizarre Life of the Man Accused in the Sarah Lawrence Sex Case". The New York Times. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
- ^ Marcus, Ezra; Walsh, James D. (April 6, 2022). "The Stolen Kids of Sarah Lawrence: What happened to the group of bright college students who fell under the sway of a classmate's father?". The Cut. New York Magazine. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
- ^ "Lawrence Ray Sentenced For Years-Long Predatory Crimes Against Students At Sarah Lawrence College And Others". justice.gov. U.S. Department of Justice, Southern District of New York. January 20, 2023. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
- ^ "Presidential History". www.sarahlawrence.edu. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
- ^ "Best Colleges 2024: National Liberal Arts Colleges". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
- ^ "2023 Liberal Arts Rankings". Washington Monthly. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
- ^ "Forbes America's Top Colleges List 2023". Forbes. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
- ^ "2024 Best Colleges in the U.S." The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
- ^ Gross, Jane (November 13, 2003). "Sarah Lawrence College Drops SAT Requirement, Saying a New Writing Test Misses the Point". The New York Times. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
- ^ a b Tolela Myers, Michele (March 11, 2007). "The Cost of Bucking College Rankings". The Washington Post.
- ^ "U.S. News Statement on College Rankings". U.S. News & World Report. March 12, 2007. Archived from the original on January 5, 2013.
- ^ Jaschik, Scott (March 12, 2007). "Would U.S. News Make Up Fake Data?". Inside Higher Ed.
- ^ Horowitz, Helen Lefkowitz (1993). Alma Mater: Design and Experience in the Women's Colleges from Their Nineteenth-Century Beginnings to the 1930s. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.
- ^ Fried, Richard M. (1990). Nightmare in Red: The McCarthy Era in Perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- ^ United States. United States Congress. Joint Committee. A Directory of Urban Research Study Centers. Washington: United States Congress, 1977.
- ^ SLC Campus – Bates Archived 2014-02-04 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Frank Sanchis (1977). American Architecture – Westchester County, New York Colonial to Contemporary. North River Press. p. 426.
- ^ SLC.edu – Library Archived 2014-02-04 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ SLC Campus – Science Center Archived 2014-02-04 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ SLC Campus – Marshall Field Building Archived 2014-02-04 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ SLC Campus – Visual Arts Center Archived 2014-01-29 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Heimbold Center – Historic Campus Architecture Project Archived 2011-07-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ SLC Campus – Sports Center Archived 2014-02-04 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Frank Sanchis (1977). American Architecture – Westchester County, New York Colonial to Contemporary. North River Press. p. 358.
- ^ SLC Campus – Performing Arts Center Archived 2014-02-04 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ SLC Campus – Siegel Center Archived 2014-02-04 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Presidents House – Historic Campus Architecture Project Archived 2011-07-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ A Yonkers Locale, a Bronxville Pedigree, The New York Times
- ^ Westlands House – Historic Campus Architecture Project Archived 2011-07-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Central Campus – "old dorms" – Historic Campus Architecture Project Archived 2011-07-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ SLC Registers as NCAA Exploratory Member Archived 2012-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "NCAA Approves Acceleration of SLC Membership". July 24, 2014. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
- ^ "Sarah Lawrence College Joins Skyline Conference". April 16, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
- Daytona Beach Morning Journal. Associated Press. March 4, 1966. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
- ^ "2011 - 2012 News and Announcements from Alums - Sarah Lawrence College". alum.slc.edu. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
- ^ After Alice's Restaurants from The Boston Globe (2008)
- ^ "Yoko Ono – Biography, Albums, Streaming Links". AllMusic. Retrieved December 7, 2016.