Sarah Lawrence College

Founded in 1927, Sarah Lawrence College is a co-educational, four-year liberal arts college in the Lawrence Park section of Yonkers, New York, though it is located in the postal zone of Bronxville, New York, about thirty minutes north of New York City. It has a student population of 1,200 and is renowned for its strong writing and performance art departments and its rigorous, individualized approach to academics. Originally a women-only institution, Sarah Lawrence first officially opened its doors to men in 1969.

History

Founded in 1927 by pharmaceutical mogul William Van Duzer Lawrence on the grounds of his estate, Sarah Lawrence College was originally constructed as a finishing school for affluent young women in rapidly-expanding Westchester County. William Lawrence worked closely with the president of Vassar College, Henry MacCracken, to establish a school that was founded on ideas of educational reform that MacCracken felt unable to apply at Vassar. The College was modeled with the tutorial system of Oxford University in mind, and a low student-to-faculty ratio was considered to be of absolute importance. Followed by Bennington College, Sarah Lawrence was the first Liberal Arts college in the United States to incorporate a rigorous approach to the arts and to the principles of progressive education, focusing on the primacy of teaching and the concentration of curricular efforts on individual needs.

Related Topics:
Westchester County - Vassar College - Henry MacCracken - Oxford University - Bennington College

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Sarah Lawrence began to take its present shape shortly after World War II, when the College began admitting male students on the G.I. Bill, though the school did not become fully coeducational until 1969. During the McCarthy Era, a number of Sarah Lawrence's faculty members were accused by the American Legion of being sympathetic to the Communist Party, and were called before the Jenner Committee. Since that time, activism has played a central role in student life, with movements for civil rights in the 1960's and for student and faculty diversity in the 1980's. In the late 1980's students occupied Westlands, the main administrative building for the campus, in a sit-in for wider diversity. Students have remained active in recent years, with numerous organizations and movements sprouting in response to the Iraq War. For many years, the College has been considered at the vanguard of the sexual rights movement, and is also known for its larger-than-average gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender population.

Related Topics:
World War II - G.I. Bill - McCarthy Era - American Legion - Communist Party - Jenner Committee

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