Hillsdale College to Join Great Midwest Athletic Conference in 2017

HILLSDALE, Mich., June 29, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Hillsdale College announced today that it will join the Great Midwest Athletic Conference  (G-MAC) effective July 1, 2017. Hillsdale, currently a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (GLIAC), will join four other institutions – University of Findlay, Walsh University, Lake Erie College, and Ohio Dominican University – in transitioning to the G-MAC. These schools will compete in the G-MAC beginning in the 2017-2018 academic year.

"Hillsdale College student-athletes have benefited from the GLIAC's high standards of athletic competition and sportsmanship for the past 40 years," said Larry P. Arnn, president of Hillsdale College. "We are grateful for the opportunities the GLIAC has provided for Hillsdale College and our athletes, and we are excited to begin this new chapter in Hillsdale Athletics history."

Joining the G-MAC will not affect Hillsdale's NCAA Division II status or its current athletic programs, which include baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, football, men's golf, softball, women's swimming, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's track, and women's volleyball.

"Being a member of the G-MAC will be good for our student-athletes while maintaining Hillsdale's high standards of athletic excellence," said Don Brubacher, Hillsdale College director of athletics. "Competition with students in similar academic settings will enable our student-athletes to prioritize their studies without sacrificing opportunities to compete at the Division II level."

The G-MAC was approved by the NCAA Division II Membership Committee in February 2012 as a member conference and earned active status in July 2013 after completing an educational assessment program. The conference began competition as the 24th active NCAA Division II conference in 2013-2014.

The G-MAC, headquartered in the Indianapolis metro area, sponsored 17 championships in 2014-2015. Its current members are Cedarville University, Kentucky Wesleyan College, Trevecca Nazarene University, Ursuline College, Alderson Broaddus University, Davis & Elkins College, Ohio Valley University and Salem International University. Malone University is scheduled to join the G-MAC in the 2016-2017 academic year.

Hillsdale College, founded in 1844, has built a national reputation through its classical liberal arts core curriculum and its principled refusal to accept federal or state taxpayer subsidies — even indirectly in the form of student grants or loans. It also conducts an outreach effort promoting civil and religious liberty, including a free monthly speech digest, Imprimis, with a circulation of more than 2.9 million.

SOURCE Hillsdale College