CHAPMAN APPLIES FOR SCIAC MEMBERSHIP
Los Angeles, Calif. – The Southern California
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) announced today that a
formal membership application was submitted by Chapman
University. On September 30 the CU administration submitted
their application, which will be reviewed by the conference’s
Membership Committee in the coming months. The SCIAC
Presidents Council is scheduled to convene in April to reach a
decision regarding the application.
Conference membership has varied over the years, but has remained
unchanged since 1991 with the addition of California Lutheran
University. During the past year the governing bodies of the
SCIAC have invested a significant amount of time towards developing
a comprehensive application process in an effort to protect and
preserve the league. Continuing the SCIAC’s tradition of
academic and athletic balance and success is of the utmost
importance to the committee.
“Presidents, athletic administrators, faculty, coaches, and
student-athletes will play integral roles in coming to this
important decision,” stated Lorin Huffman, SCIAC Executive
Director. “The conference is heavily invested in the
review process, considering all aspects of Chapman’s
application and reaching a decision that is best for the future of
the conference.” If accepted, Chapman would become the
ninth member of the conference.
The SCIAC currently conducts championship competition in twenty
sports (10 women and 10 men). Chapman offers varsity programs
in seventeen of those sports (eight men and nine women) and is
currently an independent member of the NCAA Division III. The
Panthers, who have competed against SCIAC programs for many years,
have won two Division III National Championships (softball in 1995
and baseball in 2003) and earned 74 NCAA Tournament appearances
since 1994.
The Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference was
established in 1915. The league is currently comprised of eight
private colleges and universities in Southern California including
California Institute of Technology, California Lutheran University,
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, University of La Verne, Occidental
College, Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, University of Redlands, and
Whittier College. The mission of the conference and
fundamental principle of each member is to encourage the highest
ideals of amateur sports in an environment of high academic
standards.