<p>Correct me if i am wrong, but was not College of the Holy Cross asked to join the Ivy League at its start? I know i heard/read this somewhere. Would anyone enlighten me?</p>
<p>No, it wasn't. The Ivy League would never have invited a Catholic school to join.</p>
<p>Holy Cross was invited to join the Big East conference, however in the late 70's and was not interested at the time--floated around in other arrangements until finding a very good fit in the Patriot League.</p>
<p>HC has played most of the Ivies for over 100 years-and has played Harvard, Dartmouth, Brown more than any other private school.</p>
<p>A lot of people think Holy Cross is an Ivy League school because they are in the center of New England and always play the Ivy League schools on a regular basis. This year they are playing Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, and Brown in addition to their regular Patriot League foes.</p>
<p>my sister told me Holy Cross was invited in like the 70's or something... but i guess they would have to give up being a Jesuit school or something to be an ivy.. so i guess they declined.. i dont if thats true though thats just what i heard</p>
<p>that's exactly what i heard too! they didn't want to break away from their Jesuit identity. Anyone else?</p>
<p>They just play football regularly with the Ivies...but they can't win "the Ivy title" because they aren't playing all the Ivy League schools. The Ivy League schools also play other schools not in the IL but I think HC must be one of the most frequent.</p>
<p>HC being invited into the Ivy League is a great urban legend that resurfaces on a regular basis. There is no truth to it. Muffy is correct in stating that Holy Cross does play the Ivies frequently in football, basketball, other sports. Holy Cross plays Harvard and Dartmouth probably 8 years out of 10 in football and then Brown frequently as well.I'd guess that Holy Cross is the most frequent out-of-conferenc Ivy opponent, followed closely by Colgate.</p>
<p>Growing up, I had always thought that Holy Cross was Ivy League as well.</p>
<p>HC is in the Patriot League which is very similar to the ivy league in that it is small (8 schools) and is comprised of a group of the earliest founded in the US (founded in 1800s) and are among the smaller schools in the northeast that have stingent academic standards yet also still compete at a Divsion 1 level in athletics like the ivies. The two leagues play each other frequently since they are so similar in characteristics and geography.</p>
<p>The Patriot league and Ivy league are both similar in that they look for the scholar in the scholar-athlete. In addition to playing each other they also compete for many of the same scholar-athletes to attend their schools.</p>
<p>Holy Cross was invited to join the Ivy League, but on the condition the institution abandon its Jesuit identity. The name “Fenwick College” was briefly considered when the option was put forth (somewhat oddly considering Bishop Fenwick was obviously Catholic), but Holy Cross rejected the offer.</p>
<p>I would have thought that Colgate has the larger exposure to Ivy sports teams/events on the basis that it plays men’s and women’s Division 1 ECAC ice hockey with home/away games each season. The league in which HC plays men’s hockey does not include the Ivies while I see that the women’s team is not in D1.</p>
<p>What the heck is wrong with you guys? Holy Cross was not invited to join the Ivy League. Holy Cross is a great school and most fortunate enough to be accepted should jump at the chance. However this Ivy talk is a bunch of nonsense.</p>
<p>The Ivy League (capital letters) did not exist until the 1950’s. Schools have been described as ‘ivy league’ (lower case) for long before that (little ivies, women’s ivies, public ivies, etc.)</p>
<p>The old money, WASPish Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc. were never going to invite a CATHOLIC university (gasp!) to join their playgroup. In fact, the Ivy League supported the formation of the Patriot League as a conference with similar values as the Ivy League (true student-athletes, etc), to provide matched adversaries for their athletic teams.</p>
<p>Frankly, that is condescending as hell–the Ivy League basically said, “You’re not good enough to join our conference, but we like you enough to play you in sports”. I would have told them to get lost!</p>
<p>Let’s aim for some more clarity here…</p>
<p>Irrespective of what one might think of the Ivy League- then and now- and the relative position of HC in its context, the Patriot League was indeed formed by a set of like-minded college presidents and administrators for the good of all the members. The PL establishes a common vision and practice among schools that apparently have a lot in common- with a hefty dose of prestige as a benefit. The end-of-season championships in all of the sports are a treat with their opportunity for post-season play at the NCAA D1 level.</p>
<p>I view the PL as something that has and will continue to evolve. It’s up to the alumni and of course the Boards of each PL school to support its own aspirations and move forward. We have come a long way from the old days of independents with a limited focus of major support for eg basketball and/or football; the league’s soccer and lacrosse for both men and women since its founding are great examples of how synergy within it has raised the game.</p>
<p>Next is the question of how the league deals with the challenge posed to its ranks by Fordham’s choice to offer football scholarships. Colgate and Lehigh seem interested in going this route too. I predict that they will do so and that the league overall will only become stronger. But no matter what happens, the PL should continue to define itself on own terms.</p>