LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - The Southern Collegiate
Athletic Conference officially welcomed Schreiner University and
Texas Lutheran as conference members today. With these additions,
the conference will have eight core members for the 2013-14
academic year and beyond.
"Today is a great day for the Southern Collegiate Athletic
Conference," said SCAC commissioner Dwayne Hanberry. "Less than two
years ago, we were down to five members and some within the
Division III community thought the SCAC was finished. But against
that backdrop, our core membership never wavered because we were
confident we had an attractive product to offer potential new
members. Bringing Centenary College of Louisiana aboard in 2012-13
was the important first step, and today, with the official
additions of Schreiner University and Texas Lutheran University,
the pieces are in place for the SCAC to continue to be a leader
among NCAA Division III conferences."
Schreiner University, located in Kerrville, Texas and Texas
Lutheran, located in Seguin, Texas, join Austin College of Sherman,
Texas; Centenary College of Shreveport, Louisiana; Colorado College
of Colorado Springs, Colorado; the University of Dallas of Irving,
Texas; Southwestern University of Georgetown, Texas; and Trinity
University of San Antonio, Texas to round out the league's
membership roll.
Schreiner
officially accepted the league's offer of membership on January 23,
2012.
"This is an important step for Schreiner University, both
academically and athletically,” said Schreiner President Tim
Summerlin. “The SCAC is a highly respected conference, and
for very good reasons. That these institutions have unanimously
endorsed an invitation to join the SCAC means much to us. We
believe that it signifies a recognition that Schreiner is making
great progress in its goal of being a premier place of learning as
well as becoming increasingly competitive in its 13 intercollegiate
athletic programs. We are honored by the invitation."
"We feel very pleased and fortunate to have been invited into the
SCAC," says Ron Macosko, Director of Athletics at Schreiner
University. "(Today), we align ourselves with some of the top
teaching institutions and athletic programs in the country.
Although Schreiner is young as a university, it has made great
strides in recent years, in terms of enrollment growth, facilities
expansion and academic quality. We are committed to broad-based
programs and recognize that academic success is the first priority
for our student-athletes. We are pleased that the SCAC leadership
saw these commitments when they made their decision to invite
us."
Schreiner University was founded in 1923 when a Hill Country
rancher, merchant and former Texas Ranger, Captain Charles
Schreiner, asked the Presbyterian Church to help him put bricks,
mortar, and people around a dream he had nurtured for many years.
He donated land along the Guadalupe River and together they
established "facilities for high grade instruction and military
training to boys and young men as preparation for college and
university work."
By 1971 the military training was discontinued and the school
became fully coeducational. In 1973 Schreiner phased out its high
school and strengthened its college curricula. And in 1981 the
college became a four-year institution, graduating its first
baccalaureate class three years later. Only a decade after,
Schreiner was listed as one of the top regional liberal arts
colleges in the western United States by the
prestigious U.S. News & World Report's America's Best
Colleges Guide.
Schreiner, whose athletics teams are known as the Mountaineers and
wear school colors of maroon and white, sponsors 13 intercollegiate
varsity programs, all of which are sponsored by the SCAC including:
baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and
women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf,
men’s and women’s soccer, softball, men’s and
women’s tennis and volleyball.
Texas
Lutheran agreed to come aboard on February 16, 2012 - three
weeks after Schreiner accepted its offer.
"We are excited about the opportunities being a member of the SCAC
presents us," said Bill Miller, Director of Athletics at Texas
Lutheran. "It will be a new, great chapter for TLU and for our
intercollegiate athletics program."
“This is an exciting opportunity for TLU athletics,”
said Texas Lutheran University President Stuart Dorsey. “We
are honored to be invited to join a conference of institutions that
have such an outstanding reputation for academics and athletics
success. We believe that the SCAC is an excellent fit for
TLU.”
Dorsey cited several factors that led to the decision to join the
SCAC, including TLU’s similarity with the conference schools
in size, mission, curriculum, and athletics philosophy.
“TLU, like the other SCAC schools, provides an excellent
educational experience for all of our students, including our
student-athletes,” Dorsey said. “We’re proud that
TLU has been recognized repeatedly through the years by US News
& World Report and other national publications as one of the
top liberal arts colleges in the region. Membership in the SCAC
also will allow TLU to re-establish some historical
rivalries.”
Dorsey stressed that TLU will continue to emphasize and support
excellence in its athletics program.
“SCAC competition will be keen, and we intend to challenge
for conference championships in all sports. Intercollegiate
athletics is an important part of the fabric of TLU, and we have a
long, rich history of team championships and outstanding individual
performances that we wish to continue.”
Founded in 1891 in Brenham, Texas as an academy of the First
German Evangelical Lutheran Synod in Texas, Texas Lutheran moved to
Seguin in 1912. After merging with Trinity College of Round Rock,
Texas and Clifton College, the school was renamed Texas Lutheran
College in 1930. The institution was once again renamed to its
present title of Texas Lutheran University in 1996.
Texas Lutheran is recognized as one of America’s best and
most diverse liberal arts colleges by U.S. News &
World Report, and has been named as one of the “Best
Western Colleges” by The Princeton Review.
TLU sponsors 14 sports: basketball, cross country, golf, soccer,
softball, tennis, track and field, and volleyball for women; and
baseball, basketball, football, golf, soccer and tennis for men.
The Bulldogs have won 10 national championships: two in football,
two in women's volleyball, three individual titles in golf, and
three individual event titles in women's track and field.
Approximately one-third of TLU’s 1,300 full-time students
participate in intercollegiate athletics.