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t1_iy91rl1 wrote

Also I'm pretty sure they were invited into the ivy league but rejected the offer.

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t1_iy9llud wrote

I'm pretty sure this is an urban myth. I have yet to find any evidence beyond a Crimson article from 1953 saying alumni and the president at the time supported petition to join the sports league at the time and a failed attempt to merge with Princeton 200 years ago.

This myth likely stemmed from the fact that Rutgers shares the same pedigree as the other Ivy League schools and has a history that is as rich as them. (As evidenced in the linked Wikipedia article). If Rutgers decided to private instead of becoming a land grant (publicly funded) school, then they may very well have become one of the Ivy League schools.

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t1_iya6rzk wrote

They would have been named Duke University instead but they didn't say yes to taking the money from the Duke family. The current Duke University said yes and got their name changed. If you are from Duke, know that your university was second on Duke's mind. Later a man by the name of Henry Rutgers did get the school to say yes to his money and name.

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t1_iyboavq wrote

That are also the only State University that doesn't have the name of the state in it.

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