# Southern Ivy

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{{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](/source/university) in the [Southern United States](/source/Southern_United_States) that is comparable to a university in the [Ivy League](/source/Ivy_League), usually from the perspective of having a similar level of [academic quality](/source/Academic_achievement) or [social prestige](/source/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](/source/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](/source/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](/source/Duke_University)
|[North Carolina](/source/North_Carolina)
|Private
|{{sfn|Carlton|2024}}{{sfn|Morgan|2014|p=108}}{{sfn|Ainsworth|2013|p=873}}{{sfn|Delery|2017|pp=64–65}}
|-
|[Emory University](/source/Emory_University)
|[Georgia](/source/Georgia_(U.S._state))
|Private
|{{sfn|Carlton|2024}}{{sfn|Morgan|2014|p=108}}{{sfn|Ainsworth|2013|p=873}}
|-
|[Rice University](/source/Rice_University)
|[Texas](/source/Texas)
|Private
|{{sfn|Carlton|2024}}{{sfn|Morgan|2014|p=108}}{{sfn|Ainsworth|2013|p=873}}{{sfn|Delery|2017|pp=64–65}}
|-
|[Southern Methodist University](/source/Southern_Methodist_University)
|[Texas](/source/Texas)
|Private
|{{sfn|Carlton|2024}}{{sfn|Ainsworth|2013|p=873}}{{sfn|Delery|2017|pp=64–65}}
|-
|[Tulane University](/source/Tulane_University)
|[Louisiana](/source/Louisiana)
|Private
|{{sfn|Carlton|2024}}{{sfn|Morgan|2014|p=108}}{{sfn|Ainsworth|2013|p=873}}{{sfn|Delery|2017|pp=64–65}}
|-
|[Vanderbilt University](/source/Vanderbilt_University)
|[Tennessee](/source/Tennessee)
|Private
|{{sfn|Carlton|2024}}{{sfn|Morgan|2014|p=108}}{{sfn|Ainsworth|2013|p=873}}{{sfn|Delery|2017|pp=64–65}}
|-
|[University of Virginia](/source/University_of_Virginia)
|[Virginia](/source/Virginia)
|Public
|{{sfn|Carlton|2024}}{{sfn|Morgan|2014|p=108}}
|-
|[Wake Forest University](/source/Wake_Forest_University)
|[North Carolina](/source/North_Carolina)
|Private
|{{sfn|Carlton|2024}}{{sfn|Morgan|2014|p=108}}{{sfn|Ainsworth|2013|p=873}}
|-
|[College of William & Mary](/source/College_of_William_%26_Mary)
|[Virginia](/source/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](/source/Duke_University)
    | 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](/source/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](/source/Rice_University)
    | 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](/source/Southern_Methodist_University)
    | position = right
    | lat_deg = 32.83855
    | lon_deg = -96.78294}}
  {{Location map~ | USA
    | mark = Red pog.svg
    | marksize = 8
    | label_size = 60
    | label = [Tulane](/source/Tulane_University)
    | position = right
    | lat_deg = 29.94
    | lon_deg = -90.12}}
  {{Location map~ | USA
    | mark = Red pog.svg
    | marksize = 8
    | label_size = 60
    | label = [Virginia](/source/University_of_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](/source/Vanderbilt_University)
    | 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](/source/Washington_University_in_St._Louis)
    | position = right
    | lat_deg = 38.648
    | lon_deg = -90.305}}
}}
Following [World War II](/source/World_War_II), many small private universities, such as Vanderbilt, began to struggle to compete against larger public universities in [American football](/source/American_football).{{sfn|Carey|2003|pp=219–220}} In the [Southeastern Conference](/source/Southeastern_Conference) (SEC), the [Vanderbilt Commodores](/source/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](/source/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](/source/1948_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](/source/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](/source/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](/source/Georgia_Tech), Rice, [Southern Methodist](/source/Southern_Methodist_University), and Tulane){{sfn|Carey|2003|p=222}} to discuss forming a new conference, referred to as either the "Southern Ivy League" or the "[Magnolia](/source/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](/source/University_of_North_Carolina_at_Chapel_Hill) and the [University of Georgia](/source/University_of_Georgia), respectively, while Rice and Southern Methodist did not want to give up their share of income from the [Cotton Bowl Classic](/source/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](/source/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](/source/BestColleges) |publisher=[Red Ventures](/source/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](/source/McFarland_%26_Company) |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](/source/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](/source/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](/source/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](/source/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](/source/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](/source/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

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Southern Ivy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Ivy) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Ivy?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.