Ivy League is a sports league composed of eight universities in the northeast of the United States, all of which are first-class universities in the United States, and it is also the university league that produces the most Rhodes scholars in the United States. In addition, schools have been established for a long time, and seven of the eight schools were established during the British colonial period.

Ivy League schools occupy an important position in the academic history of the contemporary world, and they are also outstanding in the scientific research and education system of the whole western world. It has become a cultural symbol. In the development of contemporary western scientific and technological civilization, it has made irreplaceable outstanding contributions from other educational groups.

Name source

The original name of "Ivy" dates back to 1937. Mr. Stanley Woodward, a sports reporter for Tribune of The New York Herald, coined this word because the oldest and most elite school buildings in America are covered with ivy.

Another theory has an older explanation for this term, which comes from an earlier sports association called "Four Leagues", whose members include Columbia University, Harvard University, Princeton University and Yale University. When reading English letters, "IV" and "Ivy" are pronounced the same.

By 1954, the word "Ivy League" (also known as the Ivy League President's Council) was formally formed and used.

The above contents refer to Baidu Encyclopedia-Ivy.