It wasn’t as hard to get into an Ivy league school thirty-odd years ago as it is now. Being a football player or being black were huge bonuses, then as now.
My sister-in-law transferred into Columbia about twenty-five years ago and got her degree. Smart girl but previously a slacker - no special connections, achievements or race. It just wasn’t that hard back then.
Sounds as though she didn't go to Columbia College, but rather the School of General Studies. Admission to the College WAS that hard back then.