Editing Ivy League (section)

=== Origin of the name ===
[[File:Ivy League map.svg|thumb|Map of the eight Ivy League universities in the [[United States]]]]
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| image1 = Das östliche Eingangstor der Brown University.jpg
| caption1 = Soldiers Memorial Gate (1921) at [[Brown University]]
| image2 = Columbia University New York November 2016 002.jpg
| caption2 = [[Low Memorial Library]] (1895) at [[Columbia University]]
| image3 = Olive Tjaden Hall, Cornell University.jpg
| caption3 = Tjaden Hall (1883) at [[Cornell University]]
| image4 = Baker-Library-Dartmouth-College-Hanover-New-Hampshire-05-2018a.jpg
| caption4 = [[Baker-Berry Library]] (1928) at [[Dartmouth College]]
| image5 = Widener Library.jpg
| caption5= [[Widener Library]] (1915) at [[Harvard University]]
| image6 = Alexander Hall, the home to both the Princeton University Orchestra and the Princeton Symphony Orchestra (edited).jpg
| caption6 = [[Alexander Hall (Princeton University)|Alexander Hall]] (1894) at [[Princeton University]]
| image7 = North facade of College Hall, Penn Campus.jpg
| caption7 = [[College Hall (University of Pennsylvania)|College Hall]] (1873) at the [[University of Pennsylvania]]
| image8 = Connecticut Hall, Yale University.jpg
| caption8 = [[Connecticut Hall]] (1752) on [[Old Campus (Yale University)|Yale University's Old Campus]]
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"Planting the [[Hedera|ivy]]" was a customary class day ceremony at many colleges in the 1800s. In 1893, an alumnus told ''[[The Harvard Crimson]]'', "In 1850, class day was placed upon the University Calendar...the custom of planting the ivy, while the ivy oration was delivered, arose about this time."<ref>{{cite web|title=Class Day, New and Old|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1893/6/3/class-day-old-and-new-it-is/ |website=The Harvard Crimson |date=June 3, 1893 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405235748/https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1893/6/3/class-day-old-and-new-it-is/?print=1 |archive-date= Apr 5, 2023 }}</ref> At Penn, graduating seniors started the custom of planting ivy at a university building each spring in 1873 and that practice was formally designated as "[[Ivy stone|Ivy Day]]" in 1874.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Penn: Ivy day and Ivy Stones, a Penn Tradition|url=http://www.upenn.edu/spotlights/ivy-day-and-ivy-stones-penn-tradition|access-date=December 9, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120715230153/http://www.upenn.edu/spotlights/ivy-day-and-ivy-stones-penn-tradition|archive-date=July 15, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> Ivy planting ceremonies are recorded at [[Yale University]], [[Simmons College (Massachusetts)|Simmons College]], and [[Bryn Mawr College]] among other schools.<ref>''Boston Daily Globe'', June 27, 1882, p. 4: "CLASS DAY.: Yale Seniors Plant the Ivy, Sing "Blage," and Entertain the Beauty of New Haven"</ref><ref>Boston Evening Transcript, June 11, 1912, p. 12, "Simmons Seniors Hosts Class Day Exercises Late in Afternoon, Planting of the Ivy will be One of the Features;</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=June 9, 1907|title=Play a Romance and Plant Ivy, Pretty Class Day Exercises of the Women's College|newspaper=The Gazette Times|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1126&dat=19070609&id=uXpRAAAAIBAJ&pg=4741,1858451|access-date=October 22, 2012}}</ref> Princeton's "Ivy Club" was founded in 1879.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Ivy Club: History|url=http://theivyclub.net/history/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111014234433/http://theivyclub.net/history/|archive-date=October 14, 2011}}</ref>

The first usage of ''Ivy'' in reference to a group of colleges is from sportswriter [[Stanley Woodward (editor)|Stanley Woodward]] (1895–1965).

{{blockquote|A proportion of our eastern ivy colleges are meeting little fellows another Saturday before plunging into the strife and the turmoil.|Stanley Woodward, ''[[New-York Tribune]]'', October 14, 1933, describing the football season<ref>"Yale Book of Quotations" (2006) [[Yale University Press]] edited by Fred R. Shapiro</ref>}}

The first known instance of the term ''Ivy League'' appeared in ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'' on February 7, 1935.<ref name=officialhistory/><ref>"The Yale Book of Quotations" (2006) [[Yale University]] Press, edited by Fred R. Shapiro</ref><ref>[[OED|Oxford English Dictionary]] entry for "Ivy League"</ref> Several sportswriters and other journalists used the term shortly later to refer to the older colleges, those along the northeastern seaboard of the United States, chiefly the nine institutions with origins dating from the [[Colonial colleges|colonial era]], together with the [[United States Military Academy]] (West Point), the [[United States Naval Academy]], and a few others. These schools were known for their long-standing traditions in intercollegiate athletics, often being the first schools to participate in such activities. At this time, however, none of these institutions made efforts to form an athletic league.

A common [[folk etymology]] attributes the name to the [[Roman numeral]] for four ({{rn|IV}}), asserting that there was such a sports league originally with four members. The ''Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins'' helped to perpetuate this belief. The supposed "{{rn|IV}} League" was formed over a century ago and consisted of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and a fourth school that varies depending on who is telling the story.<ref>The [[Chicago Public Library]] reports the "{{rn|IV}} League" explanation, [http://www.chipublib.org/008subject/005genre/faqiv.html] sourced only from the ''Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins''. {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>Various ''Ask Ezra'' student columns report the "IV League" explanation, apparently relying on the ''Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins'' as the sole source: [http://ezra.cornell.edu/posting.php?timestamp=895550400#question13] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030722214918/http://ezra.cornell.edu/posting.php?timestamp=895550400#question13|date=July 22, 2003}} [http://ezra.cornell.edu/posting.php?timestamp=798955200#question9] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030721134212/http://ezra.cornell.edu/posting.php?timestamp=798955200#question9|date=July 21, 2003}} [http://ezra.cornell.edu/posting.php?timestamp=639892800#question5] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030524211531/http://ezra.cornell.edu/posting.php?timestamp=639892800#question5|date=May 24, 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/current/2002/101702/askbenny.html |title=The Penn Current / October 17, 2002 / Ask Benny |publisher=Upenn.edu |access-date=January 30, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100606232308/http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/current/2002/101702/askbenny.html |archive-date=June 6, 2010 }}</ref> However, it is clear that Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, and Yale met on November 23, 1876, at the so-called Massasoit Convention to decide on uniform rules for the emerging game of American football, which rapidly spread.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/features/sports/football/1800s/origins.html |title=This according to the Penn history of varsity football |publisher=Archives.upenn.edu |access-date=January 30, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100718192438/http://www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/features/sports/football/1800s/origins.html |archive-date=July 18, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>