SUWANEE, Ga. — The Southern Collegiate
Athletic Conference (SCAC) announced today that Centenary College
of Louisiana has accepted an invitation to join the Conference.
Currently a member of the American Southwest Conference, Centenary
will join the SCAC at the beginning of the 2012-13 academic
year.
“This is a great day for the Southern Collegiate Athletic
Conference,” said Austin College president Marjorie Hass, who
currently serves as the chair of the SCAC Board of Directors.
“Centenary College brings a strong academic profile, grounded
in the liberal arts, and a broad-based athletics philosophy that
aligns perfectly with the current membership. We look forward to
many years of spirited athletics competition and student-athlete
development with our new partner.”
Centenary, currently in its second year as a provisional member of
NCAA Division III, became just the second athletics program in the
last quarter century to move from NCAA Division I to Division III.
Current SCAC member Birmingham-Southern College is competing in its
first season as an active member of Division III after making its
own move from Division I prior to the 2006-07 academic year.
“The move to SCAC is about optimizing the experience of our
student-athletes,” said Centenary College president David
Rowe. “One of the great advantages of the move is the ability
of our athletes to compete in post-season play next year and be
immediately eligible for conference awards and records. This is
something not available to us in our current conference because of
our reclassifying status.”
Centenary College will become the sixth member of the SCAC in
2012-13 as it joins fellow Associated Colleges of the South
institutions Trinity University and Southwestern University as well
as Austin College, Colorado College and the University of
Dallas.
“We are thrilled to welcome Centenary College into the
Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference family,” said SCAC
commissioner Dwayne Hanberry. “As we look to the future, the
conference’s primary focus is to build a strong NCAA Division
III conference that reflects the high academic and athletic goals
and standards that has made the SCAC one of the preeminent Division
III conferences in the nation. The addition of Centenary is an
important first step in that process.”
“Our focus is always on providing the best opportunities for
our student-athletes in line with the mission of the
college,” said Dr. Will Broussard, Director of Athletics at
Centenary. “We’ve seen conference shake-ups throughout
the NCAA recently, and this phenomenon has included Division III
schools in the South. Many colleges and universities are examining
conference re-affiliation as a way of supporting shifting
priorities. Athletics in the SCAC will be the perfect complement to
the overall cultural, educational, and competitive experience
students receive here at Centenary.”
Founded in 1825, Centenary College of Louisiana is the 43rd oldest
college or university in the nation. It is the oldest chartered
liberal arts college in the United States west of the Mississippi
River. Centenary’s men’s athletic teams are nicknamed
“Gents” while the women’s programs are nicknamed
“Ladies.” Both teams wear school colors of maroon and
white, and the athletics mascot is Skeeter, a Catahoula dog.
Centenary sponsors 17 intercollegiate varsity programs, 16 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 lacrosse,
men’s and women’s soccer, softball, men’s and
women’s swimming & diving, men’s and women’s
tennis and volleyball.