CWRU's athletic affiliation

For more information, contact Sue Penicka, 216-368-6517 or smh7@po.cwru.edu.

Posted 3/18/98

CWRU to become a full-time member of the University Athletic Association; will leave North Coast Athletic Conference

Case Western Reserve University will leave the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) at the conclusion of the 1998-99 academic year, but will retain full-time membership in the University Athletic Association (UAA).

CWRU has been a full-time member of both NCAA Division III conferences for 12 years, but the demands of such an arrangement have become increasingly difficult to maintain. The University's Board of Trustees recently approved a recommendation to leave the NCAC, based on extensive review and careful evaluation by the Department of Physical Education and Athletics.

A move to expand CWRU's participation in the UAA will allow the University to play a full, double round-robin schedule in men's and women's basketball, and give all 22 of CWRU's varsity teams an opportunity to compete in UAA championships.

In addition to basketball, other teams which could not compete in 1997-98 UAA championships due to scheduling conflicts were men's and women's cross country, men's and women's swimming, and men's and women's indoor track.

In addition, the missions, entrance requirements, financial aid profiles, tuition, enrollments, and academic programs of UAA schools more closely compare to those of CWRU.

"Case Western Reserve University has been privileged to be affiliated with the North Coast Athletic Conference since its formation. The intervening years have been marked by excellent athletic competition among true scholar-athletes," said President Agnar Pytte.

"In recent years we have found it increasingly difficult fulfilling our responsibilities to both the NCAC and the University Athletic Association," Pytte added. "We have decided that it is in the best interests of CWRU and its student athletes to make UAA our primary athletic affiliation."

CWRU is a charter member of both the North Coast Athletic Conference (since 1984) and the University Athletic Association (since 1986). "Each group is composed of fine institutions with a commitment to the true scholar-athlete," said Glenn Nicholls, vice president for student affairs. "Our association with both has been rewarding." CWRU will continue to schedule contests with individual NCAC schools as much as possible.

"We have enjoyed our membership in the North Coast Athletic Conference," said CWRU Director of Athletics Dave Hutter. "Separating from the NCAC has not been an easy decision. We hope to continue a relationship with as many of the fine NCAC schools as possible."

The University Athletic Association is composed of nine of the nation's leading private research universities. In the UAA, CWRU's Spartans compete with teams from Brandeis University, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Chicago, Emory University, Johns Hopkins University, New York University, the University of Rochester, and Washington University in St. Louis.

-CWRU-