Calm down. It was a joke. Notice the emoji?
Funny though you do include Centre, who often is referred to as the "Harvard of the South."
But, on a serious note, there are tons of D3s who do claim to be more academically prestigious than what they actually are.
Who's not calm? I'm calm. Irwin asked what is in Rochester and I explained the University of Rochester is there and I tried to convey the academic prowess of the school. I thought that was important since selecting a school based on its academic strength is far more important than its athletic strength. If an athlete can get both, that's even better.
I will say, though, that I have never heard of Centre being referred to as "Harvard of the South." While Centre is a fine school, it is not at the caliber of the aforementioned schools in the UAA Conference. The only two schools in the South that could probably be considered "Harvard of the South" are Vanderbilt and Rice. Even Duke and Emory can't make that claim so Centre certainly can't. Schools that use "Harvard of the South", "Harvard of the Midwest", or "Harvard of the (
fill in your schools geographic location here)" are engaging in nothing more than marketing hype. The fact is that there is only one Harvard and the schools that could claim to be "Harvard of the (
wherever)" don't need to because they stand on their own merit.
You're right, though, in stating that there are a lot of D3 schools claiming to have better academics than they actually do. Actually it doesn't matter what athletic division a school is because there are a lot of D1, D2, and NAIA schools that claim to have academic excellence when, in actuality, they don't. The difference, though, is that those schools that I mentioned that are in the UAA Conference are a member of that conference because of the high quality of the academics. If the academic standing and excellence of a school in the conference started slipping, or if a school started admitting scholar-athletes that were not good scholars, it would find itself no longer in the conference. The Ivy League, NESCAC, and Patriot League are much the same. Schools in those leagues, as well as the UAA, have very strong academic reputations and adhere strongly to the ideal of the "scholar-athlete", with the emphasis on "scholar." Schools in those conferences also have an academic index that ensures athletes are truly representative of and integrated with the rest of the student body. A school in those conferences couldn't, as you say, "claim to be more academically prestigious than what they actually are."
Enough of the academic merits or strengths of colleges. This is supposed to be a thread about the upcoming fall season.