The North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) is an NCAA Division III

athletic conference An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams, playing competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller divisions, with the best teams competing at successively higher levels. Confe ...

composed of colleges located in Ohio and Indiana. When founded in 1984, the league was a pioneer in gender equality, offering competition in a then-unprecedented 10 women's sports. Today it remains true to that legacy, sponsoring 23 sports, 11 for men and 12 for women. The NCAC is respected for the academic strength of its member institutions — all of which have

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ar ...

chapters. In its most recent college rankings, '' U.S. News & World Report'' recognized all 10 members as top-tier liberal arts colleges, and ranked five NCAC institutions among the nation's top 70 such colleges.

History

The formation of the NCAC was announced at joint news conferences in Cleveland, Columbus and Pittsburgh in February 1983.

Allegheny College he, תגל ערבה ותפרח כחבצלת , mottoeng = "Add to your faith, virtue and to your faith, knowledge" (2 Peter 1:5)"The desert shall rejoice and the blossom as the rose" (Isaiah 35:1) , faculty = 193 ...

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location i ...

(CWRU),

Denison University Denison University is a private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio. One of the earliest colleges established in the former Northwest Territory, Denison University was founded in 1831. The college was first called the Granville Literary and ...

Kenyon College Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Philander Chase. Kenyon College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Kenyon has 1,708 undergraduates enrolled. Its 1,000-acre campus is s ...

, Oberlin College,

Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio. It was founded in 1842 by methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five – a consortium ...

, and The

College of Wooster The College of Wooster is a private liberal arts college in Wooster, Ohio. Founded in 1866 by the Presbyterian Church as the University of Wooster, it has been officially non-sectarian since 1969 when ownership ties with the Presbyterian Church ...

were charter members in 1984, the same year that NCAC athletic conference play began. In 1988,

Earlham College Earlham College is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Indiana. The college was established in 1847 by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and has a strong focus on Quaker values such as integrity, a commitment to peace and social ...

and Wittenberg College accepted invitations to join the NCAC, pushing conference membership to nine schools in three states. The two schools would begin play in the fall of 1989. In 1998,

Hiram College Hiram College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Hiram, Ohio. It was founded in 1850 as the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute by Amos Sutton Hayden and other members of the Disciples of Christ Church. The college is nonsectarian and coe ...

, and

Wabash College Wabash College is a private liberal arts men's college in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Founded in 1832 by several Dartmouth College graduates and Midwestern leaders, it enrolls nearly 900 students. The college offers an undergraduate liberal arts cur ...

accepted invitations to join the NCAC, pushing conference membership to 10 schools in three states, which both schools began play in the fall of 1999. Case Western Reserve, a charter member of the NCAC, announced that it would leave the NCAC following the 1998–99 academic year. The Spartans would compete on a full-time basis in the

University Athletic Association The University Athletic Association (UAA) is an American athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division III. Member schools are highly selective universities located in Georgia, Illinois, ...

(UAA) after more than a decade of joint conference membership affiliation. Earlham announced it would depart the NCAC for the

Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. Founded as the Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conf ...

(HCAC), beginning with the 2010–11 season.

DePauw University DePauw University is a private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Greencastle, Indiana. It has an enrollment of 1,972 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is ...

became the 10th member of the NCAC beginning in the 2011–12 season. The most recent change to the NCAC membership was announced on August 23, 2021. Allegheny left the NCAC after the 2021–22 school year to return to its former home of the

Presidents' Athletic Conference The Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Of its 11 current member schools, all private, liberal arts institutions of higher learning, nine are located in Western Pennsylvania. ...

. It remains a single-sport NCAC member in field hockey, a sport the PAC does not sponsor.

Chronological timeline

* 1983 - In February 1983, the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) was founded. Charter members included

(CWRU),

, Oberlin College,

and The

, effective beginning the 1984–85 academic year. * 1988 -

and Wittenberg College joined the NCAC, effective in the 1989–90 academic year. * 1999 - Case Western Reserve left the NCAC to fully align all of its sports to the

(UAA), effective after the 1998–99 academic year. * 1998 -

and

joined the NCAC, effective in the 1999–2000 academic year. * 2010 - Earlham left the NCAC to join the

(HCAC), effective after the 2009–10 academic year. * 2011 -

joined the NCAC, effective in the 2011–12 academic year. * 2022 - Allegheny left the NCAC to rejoin the

(PAC) after a 38-year absence, effective in the 2022–23 academic year.

Member schools

Current members

The NCAC currently has nine full members, all private schools. ;Notes:

Former members

The NCAC has three former full members, all private schools. Allegheny remains an NCAC member in field hockey, a sport not sponsored by its current home of the Presidents' Athletic Conference. ;Notes:

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1984 till:2030 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:40 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<# Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.5,0.691,0.824) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all (consider identifying in legend or a footnote) id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:Full from:1984 till:2022 text: Allegheny (1984–2022) bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:2022 till:end text:

PAC Pac or PAC may refer to: Military * Rapid Deployment Force (Malaysia), an armed forces unit * Patriot Advanced Capability, of the MIM-104 Patriot missile * Civil Defense Patrols (''Patrullas de Autodefensa Civil''), Guatemalan militia and paramil ...

(NCAC field hockey) bar:2 color:Full from:1984 till:1999 text:

Case Western Reserve Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Rese ...

(1984–1999) bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1999 till:end text: UAA bar:3 color:Full from:1984 till:end text: Denison (1984–present) bar:4 color:Full from:1984 till:end text:

Kenyon Kenyon may refer to: Names * Kenyon (given name) * Kenyon (surname) Places * Kenyon, Cheshire, United Kingdom, a village * Kenyon, Minnesota, United States, a city * Kenyon, Rhode Island, United States, a village * Kenyon, former name of Pineridg ...

(1984–present) bar:5 color:Full from:1984 till:end text: Oberlin (1984–present) bar:6 color:Full from:1984 till:end text:

Ohio Wesleyan Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio. It was founded in 1842 by methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five – a consortium ...

(1984–present) bar:7 color:Full from:1984 till:end text: Wooster (1984–present) bar:8 color:FullxF from:1988 till:1989 text: Earlham (1988–2010) bar:8 color:Full from:1989 till:2010 bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:2010 till:end text: HCAC bar:9 color:FullxF from:1988 till:1989 text:

Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the River Elbe, north ...

(1988–present) bar:9 color:Full from:1989 till:end bar:10 color:FullxF from:1999 till:2000 text: Hiram (1999–present) bar:10 color:Full from:2000 till:end bar:11 color:FullxF from:1999 till:2000 text: Wabash (1999–present) bar:11 color:Full from:2000 till:end bar:12 color:FullxF from:2011 till:2012 text: DePauw (2011–present) bar:12 color:Full from:2012 till:end ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1984 TextData = fontsize:M textcolor:black pos:(0,25) tabs:(400-center) text:^"North Coast Athletic Conference membership history"

References

External links

* {{NCAA Division III football conference navbox 1983 establishments in the United States