Presidents' Athletic Conference

The Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Of its 11 member schools, all private, liberal arts institutions of higher learning, nine are located in Western Pennsylvania. The other two are located in adjacent areas, historically tied to Western Pennsylvania— Appalachian Ohio and the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia.

History

The PAC was founded in 1955 by the presidents of Western Reserve University (1955–1967, operating athletically as Adelbert College from 1967 to 1970), Case Institute of Technology (1955–1970), John Carroll University (1955–1989) and Wayne State University (1955–1967). Unlike other conferences of the time, the PAC was designed to be supervised by the presidents of the institutions rather than the athletic directors. Member institutions were to admit athletes on the same academic standards as other students and award scholarships based only on academic achievement or need.

By 1958, the PAC expanded east to include Allegheny College (1958–1984, 2022–), Bethany College (1958–), Thiel College (1958–) and Washington & Jefferson College (1958–). Eventually, many other member institutions joined the PAC, like Chatham University (2007–), Geneva College (2007–), Grove City College (1984–), Saint Vincent College (2006–), Thomas More College (2005–2018), Waynesburg University (1990–) and Westminster College (2000–).

Some former PAC member institutions are Alfred University (1996–1998), Carnegie Mellon University (1968–1990), Eastern Michigan University (1962–1967) and Hiram College (1971–1989, returning in 2025). On May 31, 2017, Thomas More College (University), announced its withdrawal from the PAC at the conclusion of the 2017–18 school year.

In April 2019, Franciscan University, which had joined the PAC as an associate member in the newly launched conference sports of men's and women's lacrosse for the 2018–19 school year, was unveiled as the effective replacement for Thomas More. Franciscan added five sports to its PAC membership for 2019–20—women's golf, men's and women's indoor track & field, and men's and women's outdoor track & field, and became a full conference member in 2020–21.

Effective July 1, 2022, Allegheny College rejoined the PAC after a 38-year absence spent in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC). Allegheny remains an affiliate member of the NCAC in the sport of field hockey as the PAC does not sponsor the sport.

On April 23, 2024, the PAC announced that Hiram would return to full PAC membership after an absence of 35 years. It joined for administrative purposes on July 1 of that year, coinciding with its becoming a men's volleyball associate member, but will not start conference competition in other sports until 2025–26.

On March 25, 2025, the PAC announced that Saint Francis University would be reclassifying from Division I and the Northeast Conference and will compete in the PAC effective July 1, 2026. Saint Francis will join for administrative purposes on July 1, 2025, but will not be eligible for the NCAA tournaments until the 2029–30 academic year.

The headquarters is located in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania.

Timeline

Source:

* 1955 – Charter members Western Reserve University, John Carroll University, and Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland, along with Wayne State University in Detroit, come together to form the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC).
* 1958 – The PAC adds four additional members - Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa.; Bethany College in Bethany, W.Va.; Thiel College in Greenville, Pa.; and Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pa., bringing the total number of conference members to eight.
* 1962 – The PAC accepted the University of Ypsilanti (Eastern Michigan) as its ninth member.
* 1966 – Wayne State and Eastern Michigan withdrew from the PAC following the 1966–67 academic year, leaving the conference with seven members.
* 1967 – Case Institute of Technology and Western Reserve University federated into a new institution known as Case Western Reserve University. The undergraduate student bodies remained separate, however, and both Case Tech and Adelbert College (the male undergraduate school of the former Western Reserve University) continued to field separate teams.
* 1968 – Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh is accepted into the PAC.
* 1970 – Case Western Reserve University begins to compete as one program, no longer fielding teams as Case Tech and Adelbert.
* 1972 – Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio is accepted into the PAC.
* 1983 – Allegheny College and Case Western Reserve University leave the PAC following the 1983–84 academic year.
* 1984 – Grove City College in Grove City, Pa., is accepted into the PAC.
* 1984–85 – The PAC sponsors women's athletic championships for the first time.
* 1989 – John Carroll University and Hiram College leave the PAC.
* 1990 – Carnegie Mellon University leaves the PAC, and Waynesburg College (University) in Waynesburg, Pa., is accepted into the PAC.
* 1996 – Alfred College in Alfred, N.Y., is accepted into the PAC.
* 1998 – Alfred College leaves the PAC.
* 2000 – Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pa., is accepted into the PAC.
* 2005 – Thomas More College (now University) in Crestview Hills, Ky., is accepted into the PAC.
* 2006 – Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa., is accepted into the PAC
* 2007 – Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pa., and Chatham University in Pittsburgh are both accepted into the PAC, bringing the conference to 10 full-time members.
* 2011 – Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and Case Western Reserve in Cleveland are both admitted to the PAC as affiliate members in the sport of football beginning in the 2014–15 academic year.
* 2018
** Thomas More left the PAC for the American Collegiate Athletic Association (ACAA); it was an ACAA member for only one year, as it returned to the NAIA in 2019 as a member of the Mid-South Conference.
** Franciscan University of Steubenville, in the Ohio city of that name, joined the PAC for men's and women's lacrosse.
* 2019 – Franciscan added women's golf plus indoor and outdoor track & field for both men and women to its PAC membership.
* 2020 – Franciscan became a full PAC member.
* 2022
** Allegheny rejoined the PAC, effective July 1.
** The PAC announced that it would add men's volleyball starting in 2024–25. At the time of announcement, the men's volleyball league was planned to start with six full members. Geneva, Saint Vincent, and Thiel were associate members of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference; Bethany and Chatham were committed to adding men's volleyball in 2023–24; and Grove City was to add men's volleyball in 2024–25.
* 2023 – The PAC announced that its future men's volleyball league would also include former full member Hiram as a single-sport member.
* 2024 – The PAC announced that Hiram would join for administrative purposes on July 1, 2024, and start full conference competition in 2025–26.
* 2025
** Carnegie Mellon announced on Sept. 9, 2024, that it will leave the PAC to join the Centennial Conference as an associate football member in time for the 2025 season.
** Saint Francis University announced on March 25, 2025, that it would reclassify from Division I to Division III and leave the Northeast Conference for the PAC, beginning in the 2026–27 academic year. It will join the PAC for administrative purposes only on July 1, 2025.

Member schools

Current full members

The Presidents' has 11 full members, all private schools.

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Future full members

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Associate members

The Presidents' has three associate members. Two joined for football only starting in the 2014 fall season (2014–15 school year) and have remained in PAC football to this day. The other, Hiram, joined for men's volleyball when the PAC added the sport in 2024–25, a year before returning to conference competition in other sports.

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Former full members

The Presidents' has 10 former full members, with all but two being private schools. Hiram rejoined the PAC for men's volleyball in 2024, with other sports joining in 2025.

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Membership timeline

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bar:1 color:Full from:1955 till:1970 text: Case Tech (1955–1970)

bar:2 color:Full from:1955 till:1989 text: John Carroll (1955–1989)

bar:3 color:Full from:1955 till:1967 text: Wayne State (Mich.) (1955–1967)

bar:4 color:Full from:1955 till:1970 text: Western Reserve (1955–1970)

bar:5 color:Full from:1958 till:1984 text: Allegheny (Pa.) (1958–1984)
bar:5 color:Full from:2022 till:end text:(2022–present)

bar:6 color:Full from:1958 till:end text: Bethany (W.Va.) (1958–present)

bar:7 color:Full from:1958 till:end text: Thiel (1958–present)

bar:8 color:Full from:1958 till:end text: Washington & Jefferson (1958–present)

bar:9 color:Full from:1962 till:1966 text: Eastern Michigan (1962–1967)
bar:9 color:FullxF from:1966 till:1967

bar:10 color:Full from:1968 till:1990 text:Carnegie Mellon (1968–1990)
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bar:11 color:Full from:1970 till:1984 text: Case Western Reserve (1970–1984)
bar:11 color:AssocF from:2014 till:end text:(football, 2014–present)

bar:12 color:Full from:1971 till:1989 text: Hiram (1971–1989)
bar:12 color:AssocOS from:2024 till:2025 text:(2024–present)
bar:12 color:Full from:2025 till:end

bar:13 color:Full from:1984 till:end text: Grove City (1984–present)

bar:14 color:Full from:1990 till:end text: Waynesburg (1990–present)

bar:15 color:Full from:1996 till:1998 text: Alfred (N.Y.) (1996–1998)

bar:16 color:Full from:2000 till:end text: Westminster (Pa.) (2000–present)

bar:17 color:Full from:2005 till:2018 text:Thomas More (2005–2018)

bar:18 color:Full from:2006 till:end text: Saint Vincent (2006–present)

bar:19 color:FullxF from:2007 till:end text: Chatham (2007–present)

bar:20 color:Full from:2007 till:end text:Geneva (2007–present)

bar:21 color:AssocOS from:2018 till:2020 text:Franciscan (2018–present)
bar:21 color:FullxF from:2020 till:end

bar:22 shift:(-80) color:Full from:2026 till:end text: Saint Francis (Pa.) (2026–future)

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Sports

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives

In 2021, the NCAA announced that Kate Costanzo of Allegheny College – a former NCAC staff member affiliated with the PAC – was a finalist for the NCAA Division III LGBTQ Administrator/Coach/Staff of the Year Award.

References

External links

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{{NCAA Division III football conference navbox