Black Ivy League institutions as being "Howard University, Hampton University, Spelman College, Fisk University, Morehouse College, Tuskegee University and Dillard University." The "North Star" News described "Howard, Fisk, Hampton, Morehouse, Morgan, Tuskegee, and Cheyney ... as the equivalent of a Black Ivy League." Lincoln University in Pennsylvania has also been mentioned as being included in the group. In 1976, the "Chicago Tribune" included "Morehouse, Atlanta University, Morris Brown, Gannon, Clark and Spelman..." The actual Ivy League is an eight-member athletic conference. At one point in history, some of these institutions debated forming a Black Ivy League athletic conference without reaching an agreement. Although
Ivy League other national championships earned outside the scope of NCAA competition, including football titles and retroactive Helms Foundation titles. The term "Ivy" is often used to connote a positive comparison to or association with the Ivy League, often along academic lines. The term has been used to describe the Little Ivies, a grouping of small liberal arts colleges in the Northeastern United States. Other uses include the Southern Ivies, Hidden Ivies, and the Public Ivies. The 2007 edition of "Newsweek's How to Get Into College Now", the editors designated 25 schools as "New Ivies". The term "Ivy Plus" is sometimes used