Paul Smith's College was founded through a bequest of Phelps Smith, son of Apollos Smith, whose Paul Smith's Hotel, 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 20,000 acres of land. Paul Smith's is located northwest of Saranac Lake, N.Y., 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T. Ellis of the New York State Supreme Court ruled that the college could not be renamed, and the proposed donation was withdrawn.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.
Sports
The college raises a variety of sports teams from the school's general population, including basketball, soccer, rugby, bowling, and cross-country. Most are under the direction of administrative staff and faculty. The college also offers sports programs reflecting its outdoor character, such as snowshoe racing, coed woodsmen's teams, and canoe racing. In the warmer months students may rent canoes to use on Lower Saint Regis Lake, located on the southern side of campus. 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 woodsmanlumberjack 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 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, 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.
