Nation of Leagues
There was a legend somewhere, and maybe you can learn about it on Snopes, that the "Ivy League" got its nickname because there were just four schools, and they decided to go by Roman Numerals, and that of course is "IV."
Which reminds me that I need an IV drip of something to allow me to survive list season. "New Ivies." "Best Liberal Arts Schools." "Top Party Schools."
So here, direct from U Sphere World Headquarters, is our latest list of lists -- or a list of what should be lists. Enjoy.
The Ivan League. There's a story here, of course, when two high school kids from Mishawaka, Indiana, decided to visit Northwestern University on a college tour. Sleep-deprived youngsters who laugh too much at just about anything will make up names for stuff, and we figured that Northwestern should have been an Ivy League school, but for some reason wasn't. So we coined "The Ivan League." We thought we spotted genuine Ivan leaves climbing up the walls. We added Syracuse (my eventual alma mater) to the list. We had no science to it -- just schools in environments where Ivan grows freely. (Only two members were named. Other schools welcome to apply.)
The Flivy League. Schools that happen to be in Florida. Eckerd College. New College. University of Miami. University of Florida. Jacksonville. Nova Southeastern.
The Eh?-vy League. Oh, Canada? We here in America forget that not only is there a Canada, there are many quality schools north of the border. (And, if you want to get technical, about 80% of the country lives south of the 49th parallel.) I share a few: McGill. York. U Toronto. U Guelph. UBC. Simon Fraser. Calgary. (I haven't mentioned price at all.)
Four-Letter League. Will Shortz's favorites, but you'll have to Google these acronyms to figure out what they stand for. FGCU. NJIT. UOIT. CSEB. OCAC.
There could be more: I'm envisioning a "Haiku League" and a "See Spot Run League." (Hint: some colleges and universities can actually be verbs. Like "Knox." And "New.") Feel free to post your ideas.
Which reminds me that I need an IV drip of something to allow me to survive list season. "New Ivies." "Best Liberal Arts Schools." "Top Party Schools."
So here, direct from U Sphere World Headquarters, is our latest list of lists -- or a list of what should be lists. Enjoy.
The Ivan League. There's a story here, of course, when two high school kids from Mishawaka, Indiana, decided to visit Northwestern University on a college tour. Sleep-deprived youngsters who laugh too much at just about anything will make up names for stuff, and we figured that Northwestern should have been an Ivy League school, but for some reason wasn't. So we coined "The Ivan League." We thought we spotted genuine Ivan leaves climbing up the walls. We added Syracuse (my eventual alma mater) to the list. We had no science to it -- just schools in environments where Ivan grows freely. (Only two members were named. Other schools welcome to apply.)
The Flivy League. Schools that happen to be in Florida. Eckerd College. New College. University of Miami. University of Florida. Jacksonville. Nova Southeastern.
The Eh?-vy League. Oh, Canada? We here in America forget that not only is there a Canada, there are many quality schools north of the border. (And, if you want to get technical, about 80% of the country lives south of the 49th parallel.) I share a few: McGill. York. U Toronto. U Guelph. UBC. Simon Fraser. Calgary. (I haven't mentioned price at all.)
Four-Letter League. Will Shortz's favorites, but you'll have to Google these acronyms to figure out what they stand for. FGCU. NJIT. UOIT. CSEB. OCAC.
There could be more: I'm envisioning a "Haiku League" and a "See Spot Run League." (Hint: some colleges and universities can actually be verbs. Like "Knox." And "New.") Feel free to post your ideas.
posted by Dave Van de Walle at
9:28 AM
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