Salinger attended Ursinus in 1938 before transferring to Columbia University.

At Ursinus, Salinger wrote a feature called ‘J.D.S.’s The Skipped Diploma’ for the student newspaper; most of the columns contained brief, unrelated items from cheeky observations to movie reviews. He also served as a drama critic, using the byline ‘Jerome Salinger’.

Ursinus admissions still carries a 1963 letter from Salinger that professes he looks back ‘with a great deal of pleasure’ on his time at the school - and then asks the registrar to send a course catalog to his babysitter!