The Black Ivy League refers to a segment of the historically black colleges (HBCUs) in the United States that attract the majority of high-performing or affluent African American students. The actual Ivy League is an eight-member athletic conference, however, Black Ivy schools are neither organized as an official group nor affiliated with the NCAA Ivy League sports conference. At one point in history, some of these institutions debated forming a Black Ivy League athletic conference, but did not reach an agreement. Similar other terms include: Public Ivies, Southern Ivies, and the Little Ivies among others, none of which have canonical definitions. Generally, the institutions themselves avoid using the term Black Ivy to describe themselves. Members There is no agreement as to which schools are included in the "Black Ivy League", and sources list different possible members. The 1984 book Blacks in Colleges by Jacqueline Fleming states that the schools that make up the Black Ivy league are (in no particular order): Dillard University Fisk University Hampton University Howard University Morehouse College Spelman College Tuskegee University Clark Atlanta University Fleming further notes that "[t]he presence of Black Ivy League colleges pull the best and most privileged black students... [A]ll seven are unique schools, with little overlap among them." Bill Maxwell, in a 2003 series on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), coincides with Fleming in describing the Black Ivy League institutions as being those seven. The North Star News described Fisk, Hampton, Howard, Morehouse, Tuskegee as well as Cheyney University of Pennsylvania and Morgan State University as the equivalent of a Black Ivy League. Lincoln University has also been mentioned as being included in the group. In 1976, the Chicago Tribune referred to the schools of the Atlanta University Center (Morehouse, Spelman, Atlanta University and Clark College [the latter merged and became Clark Atlanta University], Morris Brown College, and Interdenominational Theological Center) as a veritable group of Black Ivies. Description and legacy Although there is a debate about the composition of the group, they shared certain historic characteristics. During the late 20th century, students who attended these schools were able to learn trades and acquire skills and status which put them in a distinctly different social class of black Americans. While these institutions were the favorites for upper-class blacks who chose to attend HBCU's prior to 1970, between 1970 and 1990, a large number of affluent blacks elected to attend predominantly