Paul Smith's College is a

private college Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public student loans, and grants. D ...

Paul Smiths, New York Paul Smiths is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Brighton in Franklin County, New York, United States. It is located on Lower Saint Regis Lake in the Adirondacks, northwest of Saranac Lake, located at 44°26' North 74°1 ...

. Paul Smith's College offers associate and bachelor's degrees. Its 14,000-acre campus is one of the largest college campuses in the world. Approximately 1,000 students attend each year.

History

Paul Smith's College was founded through a bequest of Phelps Smith, son of

Apollos Smith Apollos "Paul" Smith (1825–1912) was an American hunting and fishing guide from Vermont who founded the Saint Regis House in the Town of Brighton, New York, in the Adirondack Mountains. It was known universally as Paul Smith's Hotel, one of th ...

, whose

Paul Smith's Hotel Paul Smith's Hotel, formally known as the Saint Regis House, was founded in 1859 by Apollos (Paul) Smith in the town of Brighton, Franklin County, New York, in what would become the village of Paul Smiths; it was one of the first wilderness r ...

, built in 1859, was the most famous wilderness resort of its era. The first class was matriculated in 1946, and was loosely based on the original hotel's business model. Along with the money to start a school, Phelps also left more than of land. Paul Smith's is located northwest of Saranac Lake, in the hamlet of Paul Smiths in the Town of Brighton. In 2015 Joan Weill, a former college trustee with a long history of philanthropy benefiting the college, offered a $20 million donation on the condition that the institution change its name to Joan Weill-Paul Smith's College, a change that would have violated Phelps Smith's founding bequest, which required that the school be "forever known" as Paul Smith's College of Arts and Sciences. Justice John T. Ellis of the New York State Supreme Court ruled that the college could not be renamed, and the proposed donation was withdrawn.

Academics

Classroom space is primarily located at Pickett Hall, Cantwell Hall, and Freer Science Hall. Auxiliary areas include The Joan Weill Adirondack Library, the campus' sawmill, the Saunders Sports Complex, the Joan Weill Student Center and the Paul Smith's College VIC. Two on-campus restaurants, the Ganzi: Palm Training Restaurant and the A.P. Smith's Bakery, are staffed by students and open to the public. Paul Smith's Fall 2018 acceptance rate was 58%. In the 2019 rankings for the Regional Colleges North category by ''U.S. News & World Report'', the college was ranked #14 overall, #2 in ''Best Undergraduate Teaching'' and #2 in ''Most Innovative Schools''.

Campus life

Most of the college population lives on campus. Residence halls are divided by class. Freshmen halls include Lydia Martin Smith Hall, Currier Hall, and Lakeside Hall. Incoming transfer students are housed in Franklin Hall. Upperclassmen share Essex, Clinton, Lambert, Blum House, Overlook, Saratoga, Alumni, Upper St. Regis, Lower St. Regis, and Hillside halls. Overlook Hall was opened in 2011 as a LEED-certified "green" dorm for upper-classmen. Paul Smith's rural location lends itself to many campus-based activities. Student-directed clubs administrated under the Office of Student Activities include fishing and hunting, Adventure Sports Club, Society for Ecological Restoration, Society of American Foresters, the Wildlife Society, Student Government Association, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, PSC Snowcats, Anime and Gaming club, Fish and Game Club, and Adirondack Mycology club, among others. The campus is located on Lower St. Regis Lake. Students have a beach, as well as docks and storage for canoes and kayaks. The Lakeside Dining Hall is operated by Sodexo food service. Both the A.P. Smith's Bakery and The Ganzi: Palm Training Restaurant in Cantwell Hall opens a few days a week each semester to sell student-produced products.

Athletics

Paul Smith's athletic teams are the Bobcats (formerly the Falcons). The college is a member of the

United States Collegiate Athletic Association The United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) is a national organization for the intercollegiate athletic programs of 72 mostly small colleges, including community/ junior colleges, across the United States. The USCAA holds 15 natio ...

(USCAA), primarily competing in the Yankee Small College Conference (YSCC) since the 2010–11 academic year. The Bobcats previously competed in the Sunrise Athletic Conference of the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its st ...

(NAIA) from 2002–03 to 2009–10. Paul Smith's competes in 11 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include basketball, cross country, ice hockey, rugby and soccer; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, ice hockey, rugby, soccer and volleyball; and co-ed sports include alpine skiing, bass fishing, bowling, eSsports, golf, marathon canoe, Nordic skiing, snowshoeing, trap shooting and woodsmen. The newly renovated Saunders Sports Complex houses the Bobcat Fitness Center, a gymnasium, dance studio, and campus pool. It is home to the school's SCUBA and dive training programs, the kayaking club's whitewater training, and log birling practice, an event in

woodsman Woodsman (also, woodsmen, pl.) is a competitive, co-ed intercollegiate sport in the United States, Canada and elsewhere based on various skills traditionally part of forestry educational and technical training programs. In North America, the sp ...

lumberjack sports competitions. The facility is open to the general public for a nominal fee. A -tall climbing wall was opened in the adjacent Buxton Annex gymnasium in 2010. Timbersports take place in both Fall and Spring semesters, with teams practicing every month of the school year. Events include pole climbing, log birling, chopping, splitting, sawing, pulp toss, ax-throw, and pack-board relay. The Paul Smith's woodsmen's team's nine-year winning streak (from 1957–1966) in the sport's biggest event, the Spring Meet, is the longest in the history of intercollegiate lumberjack competition. The school's highly regarded squad travels to meets throughout the Northeast and Ontario, Canada. Both the men and women's soccer teams at Paul Smith's compete in an annual rivalry game with the teams from SUNY-ESF ( State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry), known as the Barkeater Cup. The PSC men's soccer team won the Cup in 2014. Men's and women's team participate in the Yankee Small College Conference regionally, and the USCAA on a national level. In 2022 the Paul Smith's College Mens Nordic Ski team won the USCSA National Championships located in Lake Placid, NY. The men's team won three out of the four events.

Presidents

1st - Earl C. MacArthur - 1942-1945 2nd - Frederick G. Leasure - 1945-1948 3rd - Chester L. Buxton - 1948-1978 4th - Gray Twombly 5th - Thomas Stainback 6th - Harry Miller 7th - H. David Chamberlain 8th - Arthur 'Pete' Linkins 9th - Steven Schneeweiss 10th - Dr. Cathy S. Dove - 2014-2020 11th - Dr. Jon Strauss - 2020-2021 12th - Dr. Scott Dalrymple - 2021-2022 13th - Dr. Nicholas Hunt-Bull - Aug. 2022 – Nov. 2022 14th - Dr. Dan Keating - Nov. 2022 – Present

Notable alumni

* John T. Dillon – Chairman and CEO of

International Paper The International Paper Company is an American pulp and paper company, the largest such company in the world. It has approximately 56,000 employees, and is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. History The company was incorporated January 31 ...

from 1996 to 2003. * Jon L. Luther – former CEO of Dunkin' Donuts and former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of Popeyes * Steve Ross – CEO of

Kinney National Company Kinney National Service, Inc. (later known as Kinney Services, Inc.) was an American conglomerate company from 1966 to 1972. Its successors were National Kinney Corporation and Warner Communications, Time Warner, AOL Time Warner, and WarnerMedia ...

, Warner Communications and

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

* John Mitzewich – YouTube celebrity chef * Laura James –

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

, the winner of ''

America's Next Top Model ''America's Next Top Model'' (abbreviated ''ANTM'' and ''Top Model'') is an American reality television series and interactive competition in which a number of aspiring models compete for the title of "America's Next Top Model" and a chance to b ...

Cycle 19'' and the daughter of ''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

'' actor John James *Arthur Buezo, Christian Cardiello, James Ford, and Eric Munley – members of The Blind Owl Band

References

External links

*
Official athletics website
{{coord, 44, 26, 06, N, 74, 15, 08, W, display=title, type:edu Adirondacks Private universities and colleges in New York (state) Educational institutions established in 1946 Forestry education Education in Franklin County, New York USCAA member institutions 1946 establishments in New York (state) Paul Smiths, New York