Major Changes for the SCAC Following 2011-12 Academic Year

SUWANEE, Ga. – In an expected announcement made today at the annual spring meeting of the league’s Board of Directors, the Presidents of Birmingham-Southern College, Centre College, Hendrix College, Millsaps College, Oglethorpe University, Rhodes College and Sewanee-The University of the South declared their intent to withdraw from the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference effective June 30, 2012.

The remaining five members of the SCAC, Austin College, Colorado College, University of Dallas, Southwestern University and Trinity University, have already been approached by potential new members, and have established a long-range goal of creating an eight to 10 member conference. The SCAC name, its history as well as key NCAA conference designations like automatic qualifications for its champions, shall be retained by these institutions.

“The SCAC has been around for 50 years,” said commissioner Dwayne Hanberry, who has elected to remain with the conference. “The league has gone through numerous membership changes and each transformation of the conference has ultimately made it a stronger entity. I am confident, as are the five presidents, that the SCAC will re-establish itself and continue to function as one of the most academically and athletically desirable destinations for Division III student-athletes in the nation.”

“Every effort will be made to find like-minded institutions interested in building upon the very positive feedback that was received from the conference wide student-athlete survey done in 2009,” continued Hanberry. “The survey indicated a high satisfaction rate among student-athletes with regard to providing a competitive experience at the highest level; that the competitive model still allowed student-athletes to focus on their academic life, and that scheduling models were quite suitable to the management of their overall collegiate experience.”

Mr. Hanberry shall lead the effort to coordinate with new institutions that wish to participate in a NCAA Division III athletic conference whose institutional members holds a special niche that balances a rigorous academic program with a competitive athletic experience.

"Change is not uncommon within athletic conferences as we saw recently with some of the major NCAA conferences like the Big 12 and the Big 10," stated Southwestern University Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Dr. Glada Munt. "We see the change with the SCAC as an exciting opportunity. I am confident that the presidential leadership of the SCAC is identifying potential new members who will share a similar vision of providing an outstanding academic and athletic experience for our student-athletes."

“We are very fortunate to have Dwayne’s leadership during this exciting time for the SCAC,” said Austin College President Marjorie Hass, chair of the SCAC Presidents Council. “His background, which includes 16 years of experience with the conference office, will be invaluable as we embark upon this new era for the SCAC.”

The seven institutions leaving the conference will participate fully as members of the SCAC in the 2011-12 academic year and will honor all scheduling commitments made for that season.