St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

The St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) is an NCAA Division III collegiate athletic conference in the Midwestern United States. There are 9 full member institutions as of 2020.

St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
SLIAC
Established1989
AssociationNCAA
DivisionDivision III
Members9 (8 in 2021)
Sports fielded
  • 14
    • men's: 7
    • women's: 7
RegionMidwest and Kentucky
HeadquartersSt. Louis, Missouri
CommissionerDr. Dick Kaiser
Websitesliac.org
Locations

History

Source: [1]

  • September 1989: The SLIAC chartered with Blackburn, Fontbonne, Maryville, Parks, Principia and Webster the original members.
  • September 1990: The SLIAC's first year gets underway. MacMurray and Westminster join the charter members.
  • February 1991: The first SLIAC Men's Basketball Tournament is held.
  • February 1995: Westminster wins the men's basketball tournament title to earn the SLIAC's first automatic bid to an NCAA Division III national championship event.
  • September 1995: Greenville begins its first year as a member of the conference, bringing SLIAC membership to nine schools.
  • March 1996: MacMurray wins the women's basketball tournament title to earn the conference's first automatic bid to an NCAA Division III women's national championship event.
  • April 1996: Parks competes in its final conference event. Parks closed after the 1995-96 year and its academic programs were moved to the Saint Louis University campus.
  • November 1996: Blackburn, MacMurray, and Westminster share the first-ever SLIAC football title.
  • September 1999: The SLIAC begins its tenth year of operation.
  • November 1999: The fourth and final (until 2008) conference football title is awarded (six teams needed for conference to sponsor a sport).
  • September 2006: Eureka and Lincoln Christian begin play as the ninth and tenth members of the conference.
  • March 2007: Huntingdon and LaGrange admitted to the SLIAC as affiliate members in the sport of football. The SLIAC announces football will return in the fall of 2008 after a nine-year hiatus.
  • May 2007: William Wolper hired as the Conference's first full-time Commissioner (officially started in July).
  • November 2007: With the completion of the fall season, Lincoln Christian departs the SLIAC.
  • September 2008: Football begins play as the 13th conference sport after a nine-year hiatus.
  • September 2008: Spalding University admitted to the SLIAC to begin play during the 2009–10 academic year.
  • April 2009: The SLIAC announced it would cease its sponsorship of football; five football-playing schools join the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) as associate members for the sport. Huntingdon and LaGrange end football affiliation with the conference.[2]
  • June 2010: University of Dallas admitted to the SLIAC as an affiliate member in the sports of men's golf, men's and women's cross country.
  • September 2010: University of Dallas is accepted as a full member into the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) and drops its affiliate membership with the SLIAC after the spring men's golf season.
  • December 2011: Iowa Wesleyan College admitted to the SLIAC as a full member to begin play during the 2013–14 academic year.
  • March 2020: MacMurray College announced it would close in May 2020 due to financial struggles.
  • June 2020: Iowa Wesleyan announced that it would leave the NCAA and return to the NAIA after the 2020–21 academic year.[3]

Member schools

Current members
Institution Location Nickname Founded Type Enrollment Varsity Teams Joined
Blackburn College Carlinville, Illinois Beavers 1837 Private/Presbyterian 590 12 1989
Eureka College Eureka, Illinois Red Devils 1855 Private/Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) 680 16 2006
Fontbonne University Clayton, Missouri Griffins 1923 Private/Catholic 2,900 10 1989
Greenville University Greenville, Illinois Panthers 1892 Private/Free Methodist 1,200 14 1995
Iowa Wesleyan University Mount Pleasant, Iowa Tigers 1842 Private/United Methodist Church 571 12 2013
Principia College Elsah, Illinois Panthers 1912 Private 600 12 1989
Spalding University Louisville, Kentucky Golden Eagles 1814 Private/Catholic 1,692 11 2009
Webster University Webster Groves, Missouri Gorloks 1915 Private 5,000 11 1989
Westminster College Fulton, Missouri Blue Jays 1851 Private/Presbyterian 1,050 8 1990

Former members
Institution Location Nickname Founded Type Enrollment Varsity Teams Joined Left Current Conference
Lincoln Christian University Lincoln, Illinois Red Lions2 1944 Private/Christian churches and churches of Christ 1,000 10 2006 20083
 NAIA Independent
MacMurray College Jacksonville, Illinois Highlanders 1846 Private/United Methodist Church 683 10 1990 2020 School closed
Maryville University Town and Country, Missouri Saints 1872 Private/Catholic 2,500 14 1989 2009 GLVC
(NCAA Division II)
Parks College Cahokia, Illinois Falcons 1927 Private/Jesuit N/A N/A 1989 1996 Athletic programs discontinued.1
Notes
  1. - Parks College's academic programs were moved to Saint Louis University main campus in August 1996.
  2. - Lincoln Christian's former athletic nickname were the Preachers (men's) and the Angels (women's).
  3. - Lincoln Christian left the SLIAC after the end of the 2007 fall season without completing the rest of the 2007-08 academic year.

Former associate members
Institution Location Nickname Founded Type Enrollment Joined Left Primary Conference SLIAC Sport
University of Dallas Irving, Texas Crusaders 1956 Private/Catholic 3,500 2010-11 2011-12 SCAC men's and women's cross country
men's golf
Huntingdon College Montgomery, Alabama Hawks 1854 Private/Methodist 900 2008 2009 USA South football
LaGrange College LaGrange, Georgia Panthers 1831 Private/Methodist 1137 2008 2009 USA South football

Membership timeline
Iowa Wesleyan CollegeUniversity of DallasSpalding UniversityLaGrange CollegeHuntingdon CollegeLincoln Christian UniversityEureka CollegeGreenville UniversityWestminster College (Missouri)MacMurray CollegeWebster UniversityPrincipia CollegeParks College of Engineering, Aviation and TechnologyMaryville UniversityFontbonne UniversityBlackburn College (Illinois)

References
  1. "Key Dates In SLIAC History". SLIAC. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
  2. "SLIAC drops sponsorship of football". LaGrange Football. April 16, 2009. Archived from the original on May 28, 2010. Retrieved November 3, 2010.
  3. "IW Tiger Athletics Update" (Press release). Iowa Wesleyan Tigers. June 9, 2020. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.