Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Presidents and Chancellors voted unanimously on Monday, September 30, to accept the University of Minnesota, Morris into the conference beginning in the 2003-2004 academic year. The Cougars will leave the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) at the end of the current academic year.
A nationally ranked public liberal arts college, the University of Minnesota, Morris has recently undergone an intensive scrutiny of its intercollegiate athletic program which resulted in a decision last spring to leave the NSIC, a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II league. Following broad campus-wide discussion and extensive consultation, the college sought membership in the UMAC and now joins the group of mostly independent Division III schools in forming a new NCAA Division III conference.
"The core mission of intercollegiate athletics at UMM is to provide a high quality competitive experience for the women and men who participate in both 'major' and 'minor' sports here, in the context of our overarching institutional goal of providing a top quality liberal arts education of uncompromising rigor within the University of Minnesota," states Chancellor Samuel Schuman. "We believe that these goals can be best achieved by returning to the NCAA Division III status which UMM held during a period of high accomplishments in intercollegiate athletics," says Schuman.
All Minnesota, Morris athletic teams will be eligible for UMAC championships beginning in the first year of play 2003-2004. UMM's transition within the NCAA from Division II to Division III begins in 2003-2004 in a three year process. During this transition, the Cougars will be eligible for NCAA post-season play as a Division II Independent. The Cougars will be eligible for NCAA Division III championships beginning in 2006-07.
Teams that compete in the UMAC include St. Scholastica (Duluth, MN), Crown College (St. Bonifacius, MN) Martin Luther College (New Ulm, MN), Northland College (Ashland, WI), North Central University (Minneapolis, MN), Northwestern College (Roseville, MN) and Presentation College (Aberdeen, SD).
For football, Upper Midwest Athletic Conference also includes: Blackburn College (Carlinville, IL), Principia College (Elash, IL), Rockford College (Rockford, IL), ) Maranatha Baptist College (Watertown, WI), Trinity Bible College (Ellendale, ND) and Westminster College (Fulton, MO). UMM will compete in the UMAC North Division in football with Northwestern College, Crown College, Martin Luther College, and Trinity Bible College.
The University of Minnesota, Morris, is nationally distinctive as an academically rigorous, public undergraduate liberal arts college. The campus of nearly 2,000 students was cited by The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools as a "model liberal arts college" in its recent reaccreditation report.
For more information contact: Brian Curtis: Sports Information Director University of Minnesota, Morris PH: (320) 589-6423 FX: (320) 589-6428
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Last Modified Tuesday, February 01, 2005
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