When Nashville lawyer V. Michael Fox advertises on late-night television he makes it clear he's been to Harvard.

The Nashville Law School graduate who calls himself "DUI Mike" is pictured holding a certificate of achievement he received from an organization that is unaffiliated with the University but holds its annual conference on the grounds of Harvard Law School.

Although advertising with the Harvard name is a well-established practice in many places, Fox says that the technique hasn't been too helpful in the South where fewer people recognize the Harvard moniker, much less associate it with any sort of greatness.

Despite running the same advertisement since December 1996, he says that only once since then has a client mentioned the Harvard connection--however tenuous.

"They just don't care," says Fox of his Tennessee clientele.

Judging from Fox's experience, it's not always easy to predict what the reaction to the Harvard name will be outside the Northeast. In some areas, a Harvard degree is a commonplace resume asset, while in some less Crimson-populated places in the world, it can draw a comparison to royalty.

A Different Old Boys Club

Harvard Business School alum Linda R. Kartoz-Doochin moved to Tennessee after graduating in 1979 and quickly learned that having a Harvard MBA did little to ease her transition into Southern culture.

In fact, Kartoz-Doochin says her HBS affiliation was something she had to "overcome" when she looked for work. Being a working woman who was educated outside of the more traditional Southern university circuit didn't exactly help her job opportunities.