September 5, 2006
Penn State Harrisburg, Wells College, and Wilson College Invited to Join the NEAC
BALLSTON SPA, NY - The North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) is thrilled to announce the acceptance of three new colleges to the conference beginning in the 2007-2008 academic year. The NEAC has accepted Penn State Harrisburg, Wells College, and Wilson College as full-members.
Penn State Harrisburg, a branch campus of the Penn State University, is located in Harrisburg, PA and has a dynamic chancellor and athletic director who are moving the athletic program forward towards NCAA Division III competition at a very rapid pace. Penn State Harrisburg recently was accepted to the NCAA and will begin NCAA DIII provisional membership in 2007-2008 at the same time they join the NEAC. They offer a wide compliment of co-educational athletic opportunities for both men and women in the following sports: basketball, cross country, soccer, tennis, and volleyball, as well as baseball and golf for men and softball for women. Penn State Harrisburg will grow into an NCAA and NEAC competitive program which the NEAC finds extremely exciting.
Wells College is located on Cayuga Lake in Aurora, NY, not far from Ithaca, NY. Wells was formerly an all-women’s college and recently became co-educational in 2005-2006. As such, they are aggressively expanding their men’s sports opportunities as they look to increase and improve their women’s programs. As a women’s college, Wells was formerly a member of the Atlantic Women’s Colleges Conference. Wells offers the following sports for both men and women: cross country, soccer, and swimming. They also offer field hockey, lacrosse, softball, and tennis for women. They will be adding lacrosse for men in 2007-2008 and are looking to add men’s and women’s basketball in 2008-2009. Wells is a terrific choice for the NEAC because they are a full-NCAA DIII co-educational institution with many years of experience in running a quality program.
Wilson College, an all women’s college, is located in Chambersburg, PA just 60 miles south of Harrisburg, PA. Wilson has a long tradition of women’s athletics and is a member of the NCAA. Wilson also was a member of the Atlantic Women’s Colleges Conference before it disbanded. Wilson offers the following sports for women: basketball, lacrosse, gymnastics, soccer, softball, tennis, and volleyball. Wilson has extremely strong leadership from all levels of their administration. The NEAC is eager to provide an outstanding conference experience and look forward to having Wilson add strength to the women’s side.
Dr. Susan Phillip Speece, Chancellor at Penn State Berks and Chair of the NEAC Presidents Council spoke of the changes in the NEAC: “I am absolutely thrilled with the diversity that the new members bring to the conference. While we will miss those departing members, the NEAC is alive and well, and will continue to be very strong in the future.”
The NEAC will be losing Bard College, Chestnut Hill College, Polytechnic University, Purchase College, and Villa Julie College at the conclusion of 2006-2007.
In 2007-2008, the NEAC membership will be at 10 strong including: Baptist Bible College (Clark Summit, PA), Cazenovia College (Cazenovia, NY), D’Youville College (Buffalo, NY), Keuka College (Keuka, NY), Keystone College (La Plume, PA), Penn State – Berks (Reading, PA), Penn State Harrisbug (Harrisburg, PA), Philadelphia Biblical University (Langhorne, PA), Wells College (Aurora, NY), and Wilson College (Chambersburg, PA). The NEAC will continue to sponsor baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s tennis, and women’s volleyball. The NEAC will look to add other sports that fit the new membership profile.