Esteemed Facts About The Ivy League
Long revered for their rich history of academic excellence, the eight elite schools of the Ivy League, located in the northeastern United States, continue to draw the best and brightest of applicants and produce some of the most distinguished and accomplished citizens of the world.
A degree from one of these highly selective schools continues to be associated with personal and material success, and it is estimated that only .02 percent of the American population can count themselves among the Ivy League alumni.
Here are 24 facts about the Ivy League that you might find educating.
Ivy League Facts
24. Where Does the Ivy Come In?
No one really knows for sure where the term “Ivy League” came from, but according to Dartmouth history Professor Jere Daniell, it was likely coined by a disgruntled New York Herald-Tribune sportswriter in 1937. Assigned to cover the Columbia versus University of Pennsylvania football game instead of a game played by his alma mater, the reporter used the term “Ivy League” to refer to the venerable, old ivy-covered colleges whose football game he wasn’t too keen on covering.
23. Old and Venerable Is Right
Seven of the eight Ivy League colleges date back to the pre-revolutionary days of the colonial United States. Harvard University was founded in 1636, Yale in 1702, and Benjamin Franklin himself established the University of Pennsylvania in 1740.
Brown, Princeton, Columbia, and Dartmouth were founded between 1746-1769. Cornell is the youngest Ivy, and was founded in the very recent year of 1865.
22. Sports Over Academics
Originally, the elite status of today’s Ivy League schools was based on the prestige of their sports teams. In 1902, Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and Cornell formed the Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League.
In 1936, the Ivy Group was established to set intercollegiate standards for football, and in 1954 this agreement was extended to all intercollegiate sports. This was the official birth of the sport-based “Ivy League.”
