{{Short description|Informal term referring to universities in the Southern United States}} {{Redirect|Harvard of the South|the band|Harvard of the South (band)}} {{Use American English|date=December 2024}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}}
'''Southern Ivy''' is a term used to describe a university in the Southern United States that is comparable to a university in the Ivy League, usually from the perspective of having a similar level of academic quality or social prestige.{{sfn|Morgan|2014|p=108}}{{sfn|Ainsworth|2013|p=873}} Unlike the Ivy League, which is an established group of eight universities in the Northeastern United States, there is not a fixed standard for what constitutes a Southern Ivy, and different sources list different universities depending on their criteria. The term "Southern Ivy League" is also used to refer to a proposed athletic conference that would have included several Southern Ivies.
== List of universities == The following universities have appeared in lists of Southern Ivies. {| class="wikitable" |- !College !State !Governance !References |- |Duke University |North Carolina |Private |{{sfn|Carlton|2024}}{{sfn|Morgan|2014|p=108}}{{sfn|Ainsworth|2013|p=873}}{{sfn|Delery|2017|pp=64–65}} |- |Emory University |Georgia |Private |{{sfn|Carlton|2024}}{{sfn|Morgan|2014|p=108}}{{sfn|Ainsworth|2013|p=873}} |- |Rice University |Texas |Private |{{sfn|Carlton|2024}}{{sfn|Morgan|2014|p=108}}{{sfn|Ainsworth|2013|p=873}}{{sfn|Delery|2017|pp=64–65}} |- |Southern Methodist University |Texas |Private |{{sfn|Carlton|2024}}{{sfn|Ainsworth|2013|p=873}}{{sfn|Delery|2017|pp=64–65}} |- |Tulane University |Louisiana |Private |{{sfn|Carlton|2024}}{{sfn|Morgan|2014|p=108}}{{sfn|Ainsworth|2013|p=873}}{{sfn|Delery|2017|pp=64–65}} |- |Vanderbilt University |Tennessee |Private |{{sfn|Carlton|2024}}{{sfn|Morgan|2014|p=108}}{{sfn|Ainsworth|2013|p=873}}{{sfn|Delery|2017|pp=64–65}} |- |University of Virginia |Virginia |Public |{{sfn|Carlton|2024}}{{sfn|Morgan|2014|p=108}} |- |Wake Forest University |North Carolina |Private |{{sfn|Carlton|2024}}{{sfn|Morgan|2014|p=108}}{{sfn|Ainsworth|2013|p=873}} |- |College of William & Mary |Virginia |Public |{{sfn|Carlton|2024}}{{sfn|Morgan|2014|p=108}} |}
== Proposed athletic conference == {{Location map+|USA|width=400|caption=Universities considered at various times during the 1950s and 1960s for a "Southern Ivy League" athletic conference|relief=2|places= {{Location map~ | USA | mark = Red pog.svg | marksize = 8 | label_size = 60 | label = Duke | position = right | lat_deg = 36.001389 | lon_deg = -78.938333}} {{Location map~ | USA | mark = Red pog.svg | marksize = 8 | label_size = 60 | label = Georgia Tech | position = right | lat_deg = 33.776 | lon_deg = -84.396}} {{Location map~ | USA | mark = Red pog.svg | marksize = 8 | label_size = 60 | label = Rice | position = right | lat_deg = 29.716944 | lon_deg = -95.402778}} {{Location map~ | USA | mark = Red pog.svg | marksize = 8 | label_size = 60 | label = Southern Methodist | position = right | lat_deg = 32.83855 | lon_deg = -96.78294}} {{Location map~ | USA | mark = Red pog.svg | marksize = 8 | label_size = 60 | label = Tulane | position = right | lat_deg = 29.94 | lon_deg = -90.12}} {{Location map~ | USA | mark = Red pog.svg | marksize = 8 | label_size = 60 | label = Virginia | position = right | lat_deg = 38.035556 | lon_deg = -78.503333}} {{Location map~ | USA | mark = Red pog.svg | marksize = 8 | label_size = 60 | label = Vanderbilt | position = right | lat_deg = 36.1475 | lon_deg = -86.8025}} {{Location map~ | USA | mark = Red pog.svg | marksize = 8 | label_size = 60 | label = Washington University | position = right | lat_deg = 38.648 | lon_deg = -90.305}} }} Following World War II, many small private universities, such as Vanderbilt, began to struggle to compete against larger public universities in American football.{{sfn|Carey|2003|pp=219–220}} In the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the Vanderbilt Commodores, which had fielded competitive teams in the early 20th century, struggled against other teams and by the 1940s was running a deficit in its athletics department.{{sfn|Carey|2003|pp=219–220}} In the late 1940s, Vanderbilt Chancellor Harvie Branscomb hoped to reposition the university's football team as a more low-budget program by creating rivalries with Ivy League universities, and to this end he scheduled a 1948 game against the Yale Bulldogs football team.{{sfn|Carey|2003|p=221}} However, when Vanderbilt beat the Bulldogs by a score of 35–0, Yale declined to play any further games against the Commodores.{{sfn|Carey|2003|p=221}}
Around 1951, Branscomb attempted to organize a new athletic conference that would have been a Southern equivalent of the Ivy League with universities such as Duke, Rice, Tulane, Virginia, and Washington University in St. Louis joining Vanderbilt, though the effort failed, prompting Branscomb to remark that his university was "located in a spot where ivy does not seem to flourish."{{sfn|Mohr|1997|p=51}} Later that year,{{sfn|Mohr|1997|p=51}} Branscomb proposed a series of changes to the SEC's regulations that would have helped Vanderbilt's teams, but these were rejected by the administrators of the other universities in the conference.{{sfn|Carey|2003|pp=221–222}} In the late 1950s, Branscomb secretly held a meeting with the presidents of five other Southern universities (Duke, Georgia Tech, Rice, Southern Methodist, and Tulane){{sfn|Carey|2003|p=222}} to discuss forming a new conference, referred to as either the "Southern Ivy League" or the "Magnolia Conference."{{sfn|Papillion|2022}} However, the proposed conference never came to fruition.{{sfn|Papillion|2022}} In the cases of Duke and Georgia Tech, the two universities did not want to jeopardize their in-state rivalries against the University of North Carolina and the University of Georgia, respectively, while Rice and Southern Methodist did not want to give up their share of income from the Cotton Bowl Classic.{{sfn|Carey|2003|p=222}} While discussions of a Southern Ivy League persisted, often including Duke, Rice, Southern Methodist, Tulane, and Vanderbilt, the conference never materialized,{{sfn|Walsh|2006|p=18}} and by the early 1960s, the plan had been retired.{{sfn|Mohr|1997|p=52}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
== Sources == {{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}} * {{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xw5zAwAAQBAJ |title=Sociology of Education: An A-to-Z Guide |publisher=SAGE Publications |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-4522-7614-4 |editor-last=Ainsworth |editor-first=James |volume=1 |location=Thousand Oaks, California |page=873 |oclc=847526825}} * {{Cite book |last=Carey |first=Bill |url=https://archive.org/details/chancellorscommo0000care/ |title=Chancellors, Commodores, and Coeds: A History of Vanderbilt University |publisher=Clearbook Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-9725680-0-5 |edition=1st |location=Nashville, Tennessee |pages=219–223 |chapter=Harvie Versus the Football Team |lccn=2002096716 |oclc=51755981}} * {{Cite web |last=Carlton |first=Genevieve |date=August 16, 2024 |editor-last=Miller |editor-first=Danika |title=The Public Ivies, Little Ivies, and Other Ivy League Equivalents |url=https://www.bestcolleges.com/blog/public-ivy-schools-and-little-ivies/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241217212302/https://www.bestcolleges.com/blog/public-ivy-schools-and-little-ivies/ |archive-date=December 17, 2024 |access-date=December 20, 2024 |website=BestColleges |publisher=Red Ventures}} * {{Cite book |last=Delery |first=Clayton |url=https://archive.org/details/outforqueerblood0000dele |title=Out for Queer Blood: The Murder of Fernando Rios and the Failure of New Orleans Justice |publisher=Exposit Books |others=Foreword by Robert L. Camina |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-4766-6884-0 |location=Jefferson, North Carolilna |oclc=1007499105}} * {{Cite book |last=Mohr |first=Clarence L. |author-link=Clarence L. Mohr |url=https://archive.org/details/remakingdixieimp0000unse/ |title=Remaking Dixie: The Impact of World War II on the American South |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-585-03304-4 |editor-last=McMillen |editor-first=Neil R. |editor-link=Neil R. McMillen |location=Jackson, Mississippi |pages=33–55 |chapter=World War II and the Transformation of Southern Higher Education |oclc=42330019}} * {{Cite book |last=Morgan |first=Genevieve |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j2v8AgAAQBAJ |title=Undecided: Navigating Life and Learning After High School |publisher=Zest Books |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-936976-32-4 |location=San Francisco |oclc=856567356}} * {{Cite book |last=Walsh |first=Christopher J. |url=https://archive.org/details/wherefootballisk0000wals/ |title=Where Football is King: A History of the SEC |publisher=Taylor Trade Publishing |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-58979-355-2 |edition=First Taylor Trade Publishing |location=Lanham, Maryland |oclc=64335804}} * {{Cite web |last=Papillion |first=Jude |date=September 23, 2022 |title=Why Tulane left the SEC |url=https://tulanehullabaloo.com/61062/sports/why-tulane-left-the-sec/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231211085401/https://tulanehullabaloo.com/61062/sports/why-tulane-left-the-sec/ |archive-date=December 11, 2023 |access-date=December 20, 2024 |website=Tulane Hullabaloo}} * {{Cite web |last=Saul |first=Derek |date=April 14, 2022 |orig-date=August 15, 2019 |title=25 Top Colleges And Universities In The South 2019, Ranked By Academics And Outcomes |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2019/08/15/25-top-colleges-and-universities-in-the-south-2019-ranked-by-academics-and-outcomes/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240421114257/https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2019/08/15/25-top-colleges-and-universities-in-the-south-2019-ranked-by-academics-and-outcomes/?sh=e57b6cc4ada7 |archive-date=April 21, 2024 |access-date=December 20, 2024 |website=Forbes |issn=0015-6914 |oclc=6465733}} * {{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=What Are the Southern Ivies? Is this the right place for you? |url=https://www.crimsoneducation.org/us/blog/southern-ivies/ |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=July 15, 2025 |website=Crimson Education}} {{refend}}
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Category:Colloquial terms for groups of universities and colleges Category:Ivy League Category:Proposed college sports conferences in the United States Category:Southern United States Category:Universities and colleges in the United States