June 21, 1996

To whom it may concern:

It is with pleasure that I write this letter of recommendation for F. Mitchell Thrower III. When I began my tenure as President of St. Lawrence University, Mitch Thrower was a sophomore who had already assumed a leadership role among his peers. He had completed a very successful freshman year, having been selected one of the five most outstanding members of the class. He had involved himself in many activities, foremost among them the University's Forensic Society. As a member of the University's Debating Team and an officer of the Forensic Society for each of his years at St. Lawrence he was a highly successful debater. He was a member of the team which won the World Debating Championships in 1989.

Mitch's interest in forensics and his skill at speaking made him an effective presenter in many different situations. He was the freshman orientation speaker in both 1988 and 1989. He was the homecoming speaker in 1988, and in 1990, as president of the senior class, he spoke at commencement.

In addition to those activities in which he gained prominence as a speaker, Mitch also assumed many other leadership positions. He was recipient of a Dana Scholarship for Leadership and he received his fraternity's Balfour award for scholarship, good character, fraternity service and campus activity. He was a leader throughout his four years at St. Lawrence, beginning as president of his freshman dorm and ending as president of his senior class. As student delegate to the Board of Trustees Honors Committee, he was entrusted with the honor of representing the student body by his peers. In addition to these formal leadership positions, Mitch was an active and creative member of several campus-wide committees.

Although Mitch was an extremely active and visible person on the St. Lawrence campus, he was also a person who made significant contributions to whatever he participated in. He never seemed to "spread himself too thin." Every campus has its "leaders" who make a big splash and make a name for themselves, but when you look beyond the splash, you realize there is not much there. Mitch Thrower was not one of those people. Usually active in several organizations at once, and always willing to lend his creative energy to any group that asked, Mitch Thrower gave something of substance to those organizations to which he belonged and the people with whom he worked. He worked in positive ways with many different groups, always able to channel the energies of widely diverse groups of young men and women toward productive ends.

A thoughtful, creative, and energetic student at St. Lawrence, Mitch Thrower has further developed his strengths in the six years since graduating. He has used the time since 1990 in ways that are quite unusual for a young man of 27. To found a company and bring it from a position of a few hundred dollars in sales to over $1.5 million dollars in sales is no mean accomplishment. I believe that the experience he has had in starting and developing his company, "The College Connection," speaks clearly to his creativity, initiative and leadership abilities.

He is currently pursuing an MBA Degree at the University of San Diego. I am certain he will do very well in that endeavor. However, he wishes to broaden his horizons by study in other fields as well. I am certain he will do that with the same level of energy and dedication he has given to the other commitments he has undertaken.

I urge your consideration of his candidacy.

Sincerely,

Patti McGill Peterson
President
Office of the President - (315) 379-589