After completing his military service, he went to college on the GI Bill as one of the first men to attend the newly coeducational Sarah Lawrence College. Manings felt uneasy during the McCarthyist period, during which time several friends were blacklisted, and moved to Canada until the early 1960s.
Following his military service, Manings pursued higher education through the GI Bill at Sarah Lawrence College, a groundbreaking institution that marked a significant shift in coeducation. During the McCarthy era, Manings felt anxious as friends faced blacklisting and persecution, prompting him to relocate to Canada until the early 1960s.