# When someone mentions, "Harvard of the South"... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 2, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-mentions-harvard-of-the-south/657324 "2013-05-02T16:46:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-mentions-harvard-of-the-south/657324/21 "2013-05-02T18:15:11Z")
Vanderbilt ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-mentions-harvard-of-the-south/657324/22 "2013-05-02T18:15:24Z")
My first thought was University of Florida, but that’s probably not too high on the list. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-mentions-harvard-of-the-south/657324/23 "2013-05-02T18:21:12Z")
I think this was a joke on a _Simpsons_ episode (maybe the one where Homer flies on Mr. Burns’s private jet with Lionel Richie?) I think the pilot says he attended the Harvard of the South, but then never divulges the actual name. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-mentions-harvard-of-the-south/657324/24 "2013-05-02T18:28:23Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > My first thought was University of Florida, but that’s probably not too high on the list. I attended UF in the late 90s, and I once saw somebody wearing a T-shirt that said “Harvard: the Florida of the North.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-mentions-harvard-of-the-south/657324/25 "2013-05-02T18:41:51Z")
I’ve heard it said about the University of Virginia – and with a quick google of the rankings, I see their law school’s in the top ten alongside Harvard and Yale, just like their School of Architecture, sure as their Education program apparently beats out both to earn a slot in the top five; their business school slightly edges out Yale’s, their medical school ain’t too far behind Harvard’s, and all in all it looks to have a pretty strong case. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-mentions-harvard-of-the-south/657324/26 "2013-05-02T18:43:34Z")
Duke was the first thing that came to mind. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-mentions-harvard-of-the-south/657324/27 "2013-05-02T18:46:41Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > … which school comes to mind first? > > I was thinking of making this a poll, but I didn’t want to limit the options. Duke ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-mentions-harvard-of-the-south/657324/28 "2013-05-02T18:51:11Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > I attended UF in the late 90s, and I once saw somebody wearing a T-shirt that said “Harvard: the Florida of the North.” Heh. Actually, the two campuses are a lot alike. Except Harvard doesn’t have a resident gator. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-mentions-harvard-of-the-south/657324/29 "2013-05-02T18:54:50Z")
Vanderbilt ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-mentions-harvard-of-the-south/657324/30 "2013-05-02T19:00:11Z")
Universidade de São Paulo ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-mentions-harvard-of-the-south/657324/31 "2013-05-02T19:02:40Z")
Vandy or Duke. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-mentions-harvard-of-the-south/657324/32 "2013-05-02T19:03:05Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Heh. > > Actually, the two campuses are a lot alike. Except Harvard doesn’t have a resident gator. [Does too.](http://weeklyworldnews.com/headlines/37313/scientists-create-alligator-chickens/).\* Oh, and clearly UVA. \*This is what the Interwebs have brought us to. When I was a kid that would have been a vanishing passing thought - something about alligators at Harvard I read once in the grocery store line-up. Now you are all polluted with it for life. Muaaaa ha ha ha haaaaaaa!!! ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-mentions-harvard-of-the-south/657324/33 "2013-05-02T19:25:14Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > I’ve heard this about Tulane. I am a Tulane alumni and the phrase was certainly used there sometimes. However, we knew it was also used for Vanderbilt, Duke and sometimes Emory. Rice is a great school but a little too Texas to be pure South so it doesn’t quite fit. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-mentions-harvard-of-the-south/657324/34 "2013-05-02T19:56:49Z")
I would dare say that a lot of people affiliated with any large private university in the “south” have attempted to make that claim…it is not unique to one institution. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-mentions-harvard-of-the-south/657324/35 "2013-05-02T19:58:08Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Vandy or Duke. A few years back there was a football game between Vanderbilt and Duke. It was informally known as “The SAT Bowl”. ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-mentions-harvard-of-the-south/657324/36 "2013-05-02T19:59:17Z")
William & Mary. Go Tribe! ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-mentions-harvard-of-the-south/657324/37 "2013-05-02T20:03:30Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Illinois, Michigan, Virginia, Texas and others are considered Public Ivies, the state sponsored equivalents to Harvard, Yale etc. Doesn’t make it inferior. It’s just that the culture is more different (although southern schools in general are “different”). Maybe the Cal of the Southeast? Tulane might be good, too. Of course there’s gotta be a Yale, etc. of the south. Which is the one people pick on? Brown? Who’s the Brown of the south? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-mentions-harvard-of-the-south/657324/38 "2013-05-02T20:41:47Z")
Duke was my first thought, but that’s probably because I spent some time at summer camps there as a kid, so I’m more familiar with it than with other private universities in the South. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-mentions-harvard-of-the-south/657324/39 "2013-05-02T20:49:56Z")
Vanderbilt came to mind first. University of Miama Florida second. Not because it’s the Harvard of the South, it was just the next college that came to mind. ---
**Author:** ![CateAyo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@CateAyo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CateAyo)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-mentions-harvard-of-the-south/657324/40 "2013-05-02T20:54:48Z")
Vanderbilt [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-mentions-harvard-of-the-south/657324.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-mentions-harvard-of-the-south/657324.md?page=3)