Ivy League

This is a common name for eight very prestigious universities in the United States. The name has pleasing connotations of ancient buildings, covered with decorative plants (matching the popular view of the prestigious British universities of Oxford and Cambridge). Indeed, the American Heritage Dictionary ("Ivy League" The American Heritage© Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. on-line at www.bartleby.com/61/, accessed 07-12-03) gives the etymology 'So called because of the ivy-covered older college buildings.' So does COD: "ORIGIN with ref. to the ivy traditionally growing over their walls" (The Concise Oxford Dictionary. Ed. Judy Pearsall. Oxford University Press, 2001. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. 6 December 2003 available at http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t23.029410, accessed 07-12-03)

It is a shame that the folk etymology I was taught - that the derivation was from an uneducated pronunciation of the Roman numeral IV, 'four', to refer to the four most prestigious US universities - should turn out not to be true.

Wikipedia (9th January, 2010) has the following table of the members of the Ivy League:

Members

Institution	Location	Athletic Nickname	Undergraduate enrollment	Postgraduate enrollment	Motto
[Brown University]	Providence, Rhode Island	Bears	6,013<ref name="brown.edu">Facts about Brown University</ref>	2,248<ref name="brown.edu"/>	In Deo Speramus (In God We Hope)
[Columbia University]	New York City, New York	Lions	7,407<ref name="columbia.edu">Planning and Institutional Research FACTS</ref>	15,731<ref name="columbia.edu"/>	In lumine Tuo videbimus lumen (In Thy light shall we see the light)
[Cornell University]	Ithaca, New York	Big Red	13,846<ref name="dpb.cornell.edu">Cornell Factbook - Undergraduate Enrollment</ref>	6,290<ref name="dpb.cornell.edu"/>	I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study.
[Dartmouth College]	Hanover, New Hampshire	Big Green	4,164<ref name="dartmouth.edu">Microsoft Word - header_factbook.doc</ref>	1,701<ref name="dartmouth.edu"/>	Vox clamantis in deserto (A voice crying in the wilderness, The voice of one crying in the wilderness)<ref>The former English translation is that more commonly used by Dartmouth itself</ref>
[Harvard University]	Cambridge, Massachusetts	Crimson	6,715<ref name="news.harvard.edu">Harvard University Office of News and Public Affairs Harvard at a Glance</ref>	12,422<ref name="news.harvard.edu"/>	Veritas (Truth)
[Princeton University]	Princeton, New Jersey	Tigers	4,790<ref name="princeton.edu">About Princeton University - A Princeton Profile</ref>	2,416<ref name="princeton.edu"/>	Dei sub numine viget (Under God's power she flourishes)
[University of Pennsylvania]	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Quakers	10,275<ref name="Penn: Facts and Figures">Penn: Facts and Figures</ref>	9,653<ref name="Penn: Facts and Figures"/>	Leges sine moribus vanae (Laws without morals are useless)<ref>Guide to the Usage of the Seal and Arms of the University of Pennsylvania University Archives and Records Center, University of Pennsylvania; accessed 10 September 2009</ref>
[Yale University]	New Haven, Connecticut	Bulldogs	5,275<ref name="yale.edu">Factsheet - Statistical Summary of Yale University</ref>	6,082<ref name="yale.edu"/>	אורים ותומים Lux et veritas (Light and truth)