Ivy League Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising sports teams from eight private universities in the Northeastern United States. The term "Ivy League" is typically used to refer to those eight schools as a group of elite colleges beyond the sports context. The eight members are Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, and Yale University. "Ivy League" has connotations of academic excellence, selectivity in admissions, and social elitism. While the term was in use as early as 1933, it became official only after the formation of
Black Ivy League agreement as to which schools are included in the "Black Ivy League", and sources list different possible members. The 1984 book "Blacks in Colleges" by Dr. Jacqueline Fleming, states that "... schools that make up the 'Black Ivy league' [include] Fisk, Morehouse, Spelman, Dillard, Howard, Clark Atlanta, Hampton, Tuskegee." Fleming further notes that, "[t]he presence of Black Ivy League colleges pull the best and most privileged black students... [A]ll seven are unique schools, with little overlap among them." Bill Maxwell, in a 2003 series on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), coincides with Fleming in describing the Black Ivy League