The Ivy League Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cornell

Cornell University was founded April 27, 1865, in Ithaca, New York. Senator Ezra Cornell offered his farm as a site and half a million dollars as the initial endowment for the school. He also gave the school its motto: "I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study". Incredibly, Cornell was the first Ivy League school to enroll women, beginning in 1870.

Answer: Both of these

The name derives from ivy plants that cover many historic buildings of these institutions. Ancient Eight refers to the age of the schools with Harvard being the oldest university in the United States. Stanley Woodward of the New York Tribune was the first to use the term "ivy" in reference to colleges in 1933. He was describing a football game in his sports column.

Answer: Crimson

Crimson is Harvard's school colour as well. Harvard University has forty-one varsity teams for men and women, more than any Division I school in the country. Harvard does not offer athletic scholarships, nor does any Ivy League school. The Bulldogs are Yale's nickname, Big Green is Dartmouth, and the Tigers are from Princeton.

Other Ivy League nicknames are the Brown Bears, Columbia Lions, Cornell Big Red and University of Pennsylvania Quakers.

Answer: Columbia

The school was renamed Colunbia College in 1784 and Columbia University in 1896. It is located in the borough of Manhattan, in New York City. The American Revolution was not friendly to Columbia. All programs were suspended from 1776-1783 as control of the area changed hands, and the campus was used as a military hospital by American and British forces during these years. Former U.S. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Delano Roosevelt attended Columbia but did not graduate. Barack Obama is the first President of the United States to graduate from Columbia University.

Answer: Dartmouth

Dartmouth prides itself on its high level of technological advancement. In 2001, it became the first Ivy League instituition to offer complete wireless internet access in all buildings and most outdoor spaces, providing over 1,400 access points. "Blitzmail", is an e-mail network created by Dartmouth. On campus, there are over one hundred terminals in place for Blitzmail use.

The students use it for communication just as much as cell phones.

Answer: Midnight Organ Recital

Brown's Snyles Hall is home to the largest remaining Hutching-Votey organ in the world. Every Halloween, students fill the hall to hear death-themed music followed by Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor.

The Varsity Show is a musical performance written and performed by students at Columbia each year. Winter Carnival is a tradition at Dartmouth. Ski competitions, jazz concerts and a polar bear swim hi-light the event. Newman's Day is a tradition at Princeton. Each year on April 24, students try to drink 24 beers in 24 hours. A quote by actor Paul Newman is how the tradition got its name: "24 beers in a case, 24 hours in a day. Coincidence? I think not".

Answer: Old Nassau

At the end of the school year, during commencement ceremonies, "Old Nassau" is sung as Princeton's graduating class disperses through the FitzRandolph Gates, closing a chapter in their lives. Harlan Page Peck, a freshman at Princeton, wrote the words in 1859 and published then in the Nassau Literary Review student publication. Karl A Longlotz, a faculty member, later added the music.

Roar, Lion, Roar is the fight song of Columbia University. Bright College Years is the unofficial school song at Yale. Evening Song can be heard at Cornell.

Answer: University of Pennsylvania

The Liberty Bell Classic was another name used for this event. Twenty-nine countries in all participated, including Canada and the Republic of China. The University of Pennsylvania, commonly known as "Penn", was founded in 1740, by Benjamin Franklin. Penn lays claim to being the first school in the U.S. to take the name "University", in a 1779 charter.

Answer: All of these

For most secret societies, membership is limited to fifteen students or less, all in senior year. The meeting place is called a "tomb", and is usually a building of strange design with no windows. The meeting agenda and activities are unknown. At Yale, Skull and Bones is the oldest, founded in 1832, Scroll and Key in 1841, and Wolf's Head in 1883. They are managed by the alumni organization, who also overseas the activities of the society. All three have millions in endowment funds, and all three own real property.

Former U.S. Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush are alumni of Skull and Bones. Rumors have persisted for decades that this society is affiliated with the C.I.A. This strange business really forces one to raise a brow, don't you think?

Answer: Harvard and Yale

The Harvard Crimson play against the Yale Bulldogs at the end of the season each year. Harvard won the first ever meeting 4-0 in 1875. There have been eight years where there was no game, most of these attributed to the First and Second World Wars. Perhaps the most famous game in this series took place in 1968. Harvard scored sixteen points in the final forty-two seconds to tie Yale 29-29. Future Academy Award winning actor, Tommy Lee Jones, played at the offensive tackle position for Harvard in this game.