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Be our Friendster.
Ivy Leagro is an idea about a lifestyle. Formed by differing and often competing (if not outright adversarial) forces, Ivy
Leagro tries to shed light on this world in which we live, and have some fun while we're at it.
IVY LEAGRO is a contradiction that isn't. It is a celebration of the unique. It is past irony. It is a tool of social
change. It is funny. It is not a joke.
Originally, the term Ivy Leagro was coined to refer to Blacks or African Americans (take your pick--hyphenated, upper
or lower-case or what have you)at or from schools in what is called the Ivy League. It was kinda clever. It sounded good.
"Negro" is such an outdated or anachronistic term, it lent humor to the term IVY LEAGRO. (Besides, in addition
to not sounding as good, "Ivy Ligger" skews a bit too harsh, don't you think?)
As time progressed, it became clear that IVY LEAGRO was about more than where you went to school or what color your skin
is. Is an IVY LEAGRO a bourgeois black? A graduate of Howard or Spelman, AKA, Kappa, or Alpha? Well, sure.
Is an Ivy Leagro a native of Bronzeville, Oak Bluffs, Idlewilde, the Gold Coast? Probably so.
But even that was not "it."
Ivy Leagro, the term, is a combination of Ivy League and Negro. That is clear, but what does that mean? A conceptualization
of elitist privilege and an anachronistic term of self-identification for a marginalized group, Ivy Leagro is as American
as America. These tenuous and complex relations deserve some attention and some insightful dialogue. Perhaps Ivy Leagro
is part of that effort.
The gestalt that is Ivy Leagro appeals to more people than that: those who face difficulty and complexity with grace,
those who recognize that it is not only impossible, but undesirable to live in absolutes, those who laugh to keep from crying.
And those who like really good music, snazzy threads, and cool stuff.
Come hang with IVY LEAGRO. Tell a friend. Let's get it.
The most selective universities have the highest Black graduation rates.
The (Un)Changing Face of the Ivy League
From Columbia
Brown University Committee on Slavery and Justice
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