Competing Web Logs Aim To Take The Ivy League Down a Notch

"You just spent 40 grand. Treat yourself." So runs the motto of the IvyGate Weblog, which, along with competitor IvyLeak, delivers news and gossip from the Ivy League.

The forces behind the edgy blogs, four former journalists from two Ivy League schools, are able to file their reports without the restraints present at campus publications. "This isn't your administration-approved publicity brochure or a spineless campus rag," IvyLeak boasts.

The bloggers say there's an audience hungry for what they're serving up. "There's nothing Ivy Leaguers like reading about more than themselves," one of the IvyGate duo, each of whom requested they not be identified, said. "It's true from day one of freshmen year until their deaths."

In fact, both sites have enjoyed more success than they initially anticipated. While the editors of IvyGate initially planned to ramp up their site slowly over the summer and get off the ground when the school year commenced, they attracted attention from popular Web sites such as Gawker and Wonkette before the school year began. "It was like starting the game with a touchdown before kickoff," an Ivy-Gate editor said.

The writers' skeptical approach leaves readers wondering whether the bloggers revere or disdain their subject. IvyGate boasts a "Rag Time" feature that skewers Ivy League newspapers for their article choices, placements, and typos. IvyGate said its poll asking readers to vote for the best-looking Ivy League professors garnered wide participation. The site also has relentlessly mocked Princeton University for eliminating its early admissions policy just five days after Harvard did so, asking, "If Harvard jumped off a bridge, would Princeton, too?"

The bloggers aren't shy about their editorial approach. IvyLeak, whose editors also asked that they not be identified, told The New York Sun that they're shooting to "take the Ivy League down a notch." They aren't worried that their harshness will drive away readers: "We really spare no one, so we don't worry about alienating anyone." An IvyGate editor concurs: "The last thing people want to read is a sincere blog about the Ivy League."

The writers' devotion to their subject, though, makes it evident that they respect the ancient eight, at least enough to devote their days writing about the schools. "What we do is akin to playful jabbing with a trusted friend rather than bashing people we hate," an IvyLeaks editor told the Sun.

The bloggers' tongue-in-cheek approach differentiates them from Harvard's new alumni magazine, 02138, which featured a list of Harvard's 100 most influential alumni in its inaugural issue. On its Web site, 02138 declares: "Harvard's influence is both wide and deep. Once you start trying to measure it, you can find yourself feeling giddy and reverential at the same time."