The California Pacific Conference (Cal Pac) is a

college athletic conference In college athletics in the United States, institutions typically join in conferences for regular play under different governing bodies. Varsity sports There are several national and regional associations governing the varsity teams of colleges ...

affiliated with the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...

(NAIA). The conference

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

is Don Ott. Conference leadership is shared among the member institutions. The secretary is Marv Christopher of

California Maritime Academy The California State University Maritime Academy (Cal Maritime or CSU Maritime Academy) is a public university in Vallejo, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system and the only maritime academy on the Unit ...

. The conference was formed in 1996. Conference members range from members of the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, University of Califor ...

and

California State University The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a public university system in California. With 23 campuses and eight off-campus centers enrolling 485,550 students with 55,909 faculty and staff, CSU is the largest four-year public univers ...

systems to

religious Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...

and

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as La ...

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...

History

California State University at East Bay, California State University at Monterey Bay, Dominican University,

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University is a private college in Oakland, California and part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it w ...

, and

Notre Dame de Namur University Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU) is a private Catholic university in Belmont, California. It is the third oldest college in California and the first college in the state authorized to grant the baccalaureate degree to women. In 2021, the ...

are former members of the conference that have left the Cal Pac and the NAIA for the Division II and Division III ranks of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA). * Cal State–Monterey Bay and Cal State–East Bay left the Cal Pac to join the NCAA Division II California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) in the 2004–05 and 2008–09 seasons, respectively. *

Patten University Patten University is an online college in Oakland, California. Its parent organization, Patten Educational Foundation, was founded in 1944 by Bebe Patten as a bible college, and went through several stages in its history, variously under the na ...

left the Cal Pac when the school chose to discontinue its athletic program after the 2004–05 season. * Notre Dame de Namur left the Cal Pac to join the NCAA Division II Pacific West Conference in the 2006–07 season, followed by Dominican in the 2008–09 season. * Mills moved to NCAA Division III as an Independent in the 2011–12 season. In June 2011,

Bethany University Bethany University was a four-year private coeducational Christian university located in Scotts Valley, California, in Santa Cruz County. It operated from 1919 until closing in 2011 and was endorsed by the Assemblies of God USA, a Pentecostal d ...

announced it was ceasing operations effective immediately, decreasing the Cal Pac to seven active members. In 2012,

Holy Names University Holy Names University is a private Roman Catholic university in Oakland, California. It was founded by and remains affiliated with the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. It was founded in 1868 and plans to close in 2023. History The ...

left the Cal Pac to join the Pacific West Conference; while Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University at Prescott, Marymount California University, and

Soka University of America Soka University of America (SUA) is a private liberal arts college in Aliso Viejo, California. Originally founded in 1987, it was established on its current campus in 2001 by Daisaku Ikeda, the founder of the Soka Gakkai International Buddhist ...

joined to increase the conference membership to nine schools.

La Sierra University La Sierra University (La Sierra or LSU) is a private, Seventh-day Adventist university in Riverside, California. Founded in 1922 as La Sierra Academy, it later became La Sierra College, a liberal arts college, and then was merged into Loma Lin ...

joined in 2013 to bring the conference up to 10 members.

William Jessup University William Jessup University is a private Christian university in Rocklin, California, with an additional site in San Jose, California. The university had 1,743 students during the 2019–20 academic year, over 1650 being full-time equivalents. Foun ...

left in 2014, leaving the conference with nine members. Membership rose to twelve schools in 2015 when the University of Antelope Valley, Benedictine University at Mesa,

Providence Christian College Providence Christian College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Pasadena, California. Founded in 2002, it is an independent, confessionally Reformed college with no formal denominational ties. The college offers only one degree progr ...

, and

Sierra Nevada University Sierra Nevada University (SNU) was a private university in Incline Village, Nevada in the Sierras. In 2022 it became University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe. Founded in 1969, Sierra Nevada College was accredited by the Northwest Commission o ...

joined; while

Menlo College Menlo College is a private college specializing in business and is located in Atherton, California. Campus Menlo College is situated on 45-acre (0.18 km2) campus in Atherton, California, 25 miles southeast of San Francisco and 20 miles nort ...

left for the

Golden State Athletic Conference The Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The conference commissioner is Mike Daniels. Conference leadership is shared among the memb ...

. The

University of Saint Katherine The University of Saint Katherine (USK) is a private, non-profit undergraduate and graduate university located in San Marcos, California. Founded by Frank J. Papatheofanis, MD, PhD, It opened in 2011, and has grown each year in enrollment from its ...

joined in 2019. In March 2020, the conference announced two additions for the 2020–21 academic year when Park University at Gilbert and Westcliff University were admitted to the NAIA. Sierra Nevada approved in July 2021 an agreement to merge with

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athleti ...

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded on October 12 ...

(Nevada). The merger was given accreditation approval in late December and scheduled for completion before 2022–23, leading to Sierra Nevada's departure from Cal Pac.

Chronological timeline

* 1995 - The California Pacific Conference (Cal Pac) was founded. Charter members included Bethany College (later Bethany University),

(now California State University Maritime Academy), California State University at Monterey Bay, Dominican College (now the Dominican University of California),

Holy Names College Holy Names University is a private Roman Catholic university in Oakland, California. It was founded by and remains affiliated with the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. It was founded in 1868 and plans to close in 2023. History Th ...

(now Holy Names University),

Pacific Union College Pacific Union College (PUC) is a private liberal arts college in Angwin, California. It is the only four-year college in Napa County. It is a coeducational residential college with an almost exclusively undergraduate student body. PUC is accre ...

, Patten College (now Patten University), and

Simpson College Simpson College is a private Methodist liberal arts college in Indianola, Iowa. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and has about 1,250 full-time and 300 part-time students. In addition to the Indianola residential campus, Simpso ...

(now Simpson University) beginning the 1996-97 academic year. * 1998 - California State University at Hayward (now California State University at East Bay) and the

College of Notre Dame Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU) is a private Catholic university in Belmont, California. It is the third oldest college in California and the first college in the state authorized to grant the baccalaureate degree to women. In 2021, the ...

(later Notre Dame de Namur University) joined the Cal Pac in the 1998-99 academic year. * 1999 -

joined the Cal Pac in the 1999-2000 academic year. * 2004 ** Cal State–Monterey Bay left the Cal Pac to join the Division II ranks of the

(NCAA) and the

California Collegiate Athletic Association The California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. All of its current members are public universities, and upon U ...

(CCAA) after the 2003-04 academic year. ** Jessup University, then known as William Jessup University, joined the Cal Pac in the 2004-05 academic year. * 2005 - Patten left the Cal Pac to become an NAIA Independent after the 2004-05 academic year. * 2006 - Notre Dame de Namur left the Cal Pac to join the NCAA Division II ranks and the

Pacific West Conference The Pacific West Conference (also known as the PacWest) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in California and Hawaii. T ...

(PacWest) after the 2005-06 academic year. * 2009 - Two institutions left the Cal Pac and the NAIA to join the NCAA Division II ranks and to their respective new home primary conferences: Cal State–East Bay to the CCAA, and Dominican (Cal.) to the PacWest after the 2008-09 academic year. * 2011 - The University of California at Merced joined the Cal Pac in the 2011-12 academic year. * 2012 ** Holy Names left the Cal Pac and the NAIA to join the NCAA Division II ranks and the PacWest after the 2011-12 academic year. ** Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University–Prescott, Marymount California University, and

joined the Cal Pac in the 2012-13 academic year. * 2013 -

joined the Cal Pac in the 2013-14 academic year. * 2014 - William Jessup left the Cal Pac to join the

after the 2013-14 academic year. * 2015 ** Menlo left the Cal Pac to join the GSAC after the 2014-15 academic year. ** The University of Antelope Valley, Benedictine University at Mesa,

, and

Sierra Nevada College Sierra Nevada University (SNU) was a private university in Incline Village, Nevada in the Sierras. In 2022 it became University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe. Founded in 1969, Sierra Nevada College was accredited by the Northwest Commission o ...

(now Sierra Nevada University) joined the Cal Pac in the 2015-16 academic year. * 2019 - The

joined the Cal Pac in the 2019-20 academic year. * 2020 - Park University Gilbert and Westcliff University joined the Cal Pac in the 2020-21 academic year. * 2021 - Sierra Nevada left the Cal Pac after the 2021-22 academic year as the school announced plans to merge with the

, dropping all athletic programs in the process. * 2022 - Marymount California left the Cal Pac after the 2021-22 academic year as the school announced its closure in August of that year. * 2023 ** Benedictine at Mesa, Embry-Riddle Prescott, Park–Gilbert, and St. Katherine all announced their departure for the

for the 2024-25 athletic season. ** UC Merced announced it would be leaving the Cal Pac and the NAIA to join the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

ranks and the CCAA starting the 2025-26 athletic season.

Member schools

Current members

The Cal Pac currently has 13 full members, all but two are

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

schools: ;Notes:

Former members

The Cal Pac had 12 former full members, all but two were

schools: ;Notes:

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1996 till:2028 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:5 left:5 bottom:40 top:5 Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.7,0.9,0.8) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.9,0.8,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.9,0.7,0.8) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.8,0.9,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for another sport only id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference when the other color has already been used PlotData = width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:FullxF from:1996 till:2011 text:

Bethany Bethany ( grc-gre, Βηθανία,Murphy-O'Connor, 2008, p152/ref> Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܥܢܝܐ ''Bēṯ ʿAnyā'') or what is locally known as Al-Eizariya or al-Azariya ( ar, العيزرية, " laceof Lazarus"), is a Palestinian town in the West ...

(1996–2011) bar:2 color:FullxF from:1996 till:end text: Cal State–Maritime (California Maritime) (1996–present) bar:3 color:FullxF from:1996 till:2004 text: Cal State Monterey Bay (1996–2004) bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:2004 till:end text: CCAA bar:4 color:FullxF from:1996 till:2009 text: Dominican (Cal.) (1996–2009) bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:2009 till:end text: PacWest bar:5 color:FullxF from:1996 till:2012 text: Holy Names (1996–2012) bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:2012 till:2023 text: PacWest bar:6 color:FullxF from:1996 till:2015 text: Menlo (1996–2015) bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:2015 till:end text: GSAC bar:7 color:FullxF from:1996 till:end text:

Pacific Union The Pacific Union was a proposed development of the Pacific Islands Forum, suggested in 2003 by a committee of the Australian Senate, into a political and economic intergovernmental community. The union, if formed, would have a common charter, i ...

(1996–present) bar:8 color:FullxF from:1996 till:2005 text: Patten (1996–2005) bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:2005 till:2012 text: NAIA Ind. bar:9 color:FullxF from:1996 till:end text: Simpson (1996–present) bar:10 color:FullxF from:1998 till:2009 text: Cal State–East Bay (1998–2009) bar:10 color:OtherC1 from:2009 till:end text: CCAA bar:11 color:FullxF from:1998 till:2006 text: Notre Dame de Namur (1998–2006) bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:2006 till:2020 text: PacWest bar:12 color:FullxF from:1999 till:2011 text:

Mills Mills is the plural form of mill, but may also refer to: As a name * Mills (surname), a common family name of English or Gaelic origin * Mills (given name) *Mills, a fictional British secret agent in a trilogy by writer Manning O'Brine Places Uni ...

(1999–2011) bar:12 color:OtherC1 from:2011 till:2013 text: D-III Ind. bar:12 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:2016 text: GSAC bar:12 color:OtherC1 from:2016 till:2017 text: D-III Ind. bar:12 shift:(20) color:OtherC2 from:2017 till:2020 text: ACAA bar:12 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:2023 text:

C2C Trenitalia c2c Limited,Companies House extract company no 789726 ...

bar:13 color:FullxF from:2004 till:2014 text: William Jessup (2004–2014) bar:13 color:OtherC1 from:2014 till:2024 text: GSAC bar:13 color:OtherC2 from:2024 till:end text: PacWest bar:14 color:FullxF from:2011 till:2025 text:

UC Merced The University of California, Merced (UC Merced) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university and Hispanic-serving institution located in Merced, California, and is the tenth and newest of the University ...

(2011–2025) bar:14 color:OtherC1 from:2025 till:end text: CCAA bar:15 color:FullxF from:2012 till:2024 text: Embry–Riddle at Prescott (2012–2024) bar:15 color:OtherC1 from:2024 till:end text: GSAC bar:16 color:FullxF from:2012 till:2022 text: Marymount (2012–2022) bar:17 color:FullxF from:2012 till:end text: Soka (2012–present) bar:18 color:FullxF from:2013 till:end text: La Sierra (2013–present) bar:19 color:FullxF from:2015 till:end text:

Antelope Valley The Antelope Valley is located in northern Los Angeles County, California, and the southeast portion of Kern County, California, and constitutes the western tip of the Mojave Desert. It is situated between the Tehachapi, Sierra Pelona, and ...

(2015–present) bar:20 color:FullxF from:2015 till:2024 text: Benedictine–Mesa (2015–2024) bar:20 color:OtherC1 from:2024 till:end text: GSAC bar:21 color:FullxF from:2015 till:end text: Providence Christian (2015–present) bar:22 color:FullxF from:2015 till:2022 text:

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primar ...

(2015–2022) bar:23 color:FullxF from:2019 till:2024 text: Saint Katherine (2019–2024) bar:23 color:OtherC1 from:2024 till:end text: GSAC bar:24 color:FullxF from:2020 till:2024 text: Park–Gilbert (2020–2024) bar:24 shift:(20) color:OtherC1 from:2024 till:end text: GSAC bar:25 color:FullxF from:2020 till:end text: Westcliff (2020–present) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1996 TextData = fontsize:M textcolor:black pos:(0,25) tabs:(400-center) text:^"California Pacific Conference membership history"

Sports sponsored

References

External links

* {{NAIA conference navbox College sports in California 1996 establishments in California Organizations based in Oakland, California Sports in the San Francisco Bay Area

History

Chronological timeline

Member schools

Current members

Former members

Membership timeline

Sports sponsored

See also

References

External links