In a message dated 09/03/2003 9:56:24 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

> And yes, there could even be a private club than allows only WASP's in, if
> they so chose. And I don't see how Colgate being in the well-respected
> Patriot League
>
> Wrong here in NJ- as soon as the private club applies for alcoholic beverage
> license the government is involved and our law against discrimination
> applies just as the federal government can institute quotas for women athletes etc.
> Since all of the colleges involved receive significant federal dollars they
> are not exempt on the "freedom of association" argument. We have had
> successful suits to force conferences to admit members (in NJ it was the urban
> schools getting into suburban conferences. Jefferson's ideal was that we would have
> free expression of ideas- have I shot a sacred cow? I can turn it around-
> what would be wrong with expanding the Ivy League? Is Princeton- "Princeton" by
> virtue of its athletic affiliation? I have really touched a nerve here that
> has caught me by surprise. The Patriot League is a fine league and they are
> not exclusive so schools can come in and go out. As to a theory of suing the
> Ivys (hey the State of Connecticut is suing the Big East and our national
> pastime is not baseball- it is litigation) would be that be not admitting like
> minded institutions and keeping the conference a private exclusive club with a
> brand name- they are artificially keeping their applications and exclusivity
> at levels they would not otherwise achieve. If Colgate became an Ivy don't
> you think their applications would soar (however irrational that conclusion may
> be)? Can we have some intellectual honesty here? If Brown were to be dropped
> from the club would it still have the same panache?  As for womens' sports
> and I really didn't want to get into this- I can guarantee there will be
> exemptions if needed to keep teams at D1- but we do not have to debate this- the
> facts will be "self-evident" in a few years.