… which school comes to mind first?
I was thinking of making this a poll, but I didn’t want to limit the options.
Nothing came immediately to mind, but after a tiny bit of thought, maybe
William & Mary?
Edited to spoiler my thought, so as to not unduly influence others.
I’d say Vanderbilt
Bless your heart.
For me, it’s definitely Rice University. But I am biased.
I’ve heard Emory people claim it.
Don’t really have a strong reaction to it at all. I have pretty good instinctive answers for the Midwest and West, but not the South.
With the South, after consideration, I’d say either…
Duke or Vanderbilt.
I usually hear “X of the south” in reference to Rice.
No evaluation but I’ve heard a lot of University of Virginia people claim that title.
It is Vanderbilt. Vandy was specifically endowed to be a university “of the South” after the War, and in any event the phrase is long-established in Nashville. Using it for another school is saying, “this is more like Harvard than Vanderbilt is.”
It’s a public school.
I would say Vanderbilt as well. Strong research and all.
Rice? I guess Houston is technically the South, but it’s not my first though.
Without reading anybody’s responses, my first thought was the University of Virginia.
Illinois, Michigan, Virginia, Texas and others are considered Public Ivies, the state sponsored equivalents to Harvard, Yale etc.
William & Mary, duh.
But the better nickname is "alma mater of a nation. "
Duplicate
Further south.
Don’t make me say it.
I’ve heard this about Tulane.
Tulane.
By the way, I just want to be clear that I didn’t mean this pejoratively. I attended William & Mary.
Duke is what came to mind, for no reason I can name.