The Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) is a

college athletic conference In college athletics in the United States, institutions typically join in conferences for regular play under different governing bodies. Varsity sports There are several national and regional associations governing the varsity teams of colleges ...

affiliated with the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its st ...

(NAIA). Member institutions are located in

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...

, and

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...

. The conference was founded in 1969 as the Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NIAC), later becoming the Nebraska–Iowa Athletic Conference (1992) before being renamed the Great Plains Athletic Conference (2000).

History

The Great Plains Athletic Conference was founded on September 22, 1969, as the Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NIAC). The first president of the conference was Art Nicolia (NWU) while Glen Hinkle (Doane) was the vice president and Roger Olsen (Dana) was the secretary/treasure. Jack Anderson (NWU) was named the first publicist on February 28, 1970. The six charter members were Concordia University,

Dana College Dana College was a private college in Blair, Nebraska. Its rural 150-acre (607,000 m²) campus is approximately 26 miles (40 km) northwest of Omaha and overlooks a portion of the Missouri River Valley. The campus was planned to be purchase ...

, Doane University,

Hastings College Hastings College is a private Presbyterian college in Hastings, Nebraska. History The college was founded in 1882 by a group of men and women seeking to establish a Presbyterian college dedicated to high academic and cultural standards. ...

, Midland University, and

Nebraska Wesleyan University Nebraska Wesleyan University (NWU) is a private Methodist-affiliated university in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was founded in 1887 by Nebraska Methodists. As of 2017, it has approximately 2,100 students including 1,500 full-time students and 300 ...

. With the addition of Northwestern College in 1992, the NIAC was renamed the Nebraska–Iowa Athletic Conference. The NIAC became the Great Plains Athletic Conference in 2000 with the addition of Dakota Wesleyan University, Dordt University, Mount Marty University, and the

University of Sioux Falls The University of Sioux Falls (USF) is a private BaptistChristian university in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. In fall 2014, the university enrolled a total of 1,142 undergraduate students and ...

. Later, Briar Cliff University and Morningside University joined the GPAC in 2002 and 2003 respectively. The College of Saint Mary, a women's only institution, joined in 2015. In 2018,

University of Jamestown , mottoeng = Light and Truth , established = , type = Private university , religious_affiliation = Christian , endowment = $45 million , staff = , faculty = , president = Polly Peterson , ...

joined the conference as a full-member, while Presentation College joined the conference as an associate member. All former members of the NIAC remain affiliated with the GPAC except for

, which closed in 2010, the

, which left the conference in 2011, and

, which left the conference in 2016. Paul Clark was the commissioner of the GPAC when it formed in 2000. Corey Westra in Sioux City, Iowa, is the current commissioner of the league.About Commissioner Corey Westra
/ref>

Chronological timeline

* 1969 – On September 22, 1969, the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) was founded as the Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NIAC). Charter members included Concordia Teachers College (now Concordia University of Nebraska),

Doane College Doane University is a private university in Crete, Nebraska. It has additional campuses in Lincoln and Omaha, as well as online programs. History Doane College was founded on July 11, 1872, by Thomas Doane, chief civil engineer for the Burling ...

(now Doane University),

, Midland Lutheran College (now Midland University) and

, effective beginning the 1969–70 academic year. * 1992 – Northwestern College of Iowa joined the NIAC. Therefore, the NIAC has been rebranded as the Nebraska-Iowa Athletic Conference (NIAC), effective in the 1992–93 academic year. * 2000 – Dakota Wesleyan University, Dordt College (now Dordt University),

Mount Marty College Mount Marty University is a private Benedictine university in Yankton, South Dakota. Athletics The Mount Marty athletic teams are called the Lancers. The university is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), pr ...

(now Mount Marty University) and the

joined the NIAC. Therefore, the NIAC has been rebranded as the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC), effective in the 2000–01 academic year. * 2002 – Briar Cliff College (now Briar Cliff University) joined the GPAC, effective in the 2002–03 academic year. * 2003 –

Morningside College Morningside University is a private university affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Sioux City, Iowa. Founded in 1894 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, Morningside University has 21 buildings on a campus in Sioux City (ar ...

(now Morningside University) joined the GPAC, effective in the 2003–04 academic year. * 2010 – Dana left the GPAC as the school announced that it would close, effective after the 2009–10 academic year. * 2011 – Sioux Falls left the GPAC and the NAIA to move up to the Division II ranks of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA) as an NCAA D-II Independent (which would later join the

Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the western Midwestern United States. Nine of its ...

(NSIC), effective beginning the 2012–13 academic year), effective after the 2010–11 academic year. * 2015 – The College of Saint Mary joined the GPAC, effective in the 2015–16 academic year. * 2016 – Nebraska Wesleyan left the GPAC and the NAIA to fully align in the

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their st ...

ranks (during that time, they held dual membership with both the NAIA and the NCAA), primarily competing as a member of the

Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) is an NCAA Division III athletic conference. From 1927 until August 9, 2018, it was known officially as the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) and commonly as the Iowa Conference. History The A ...

(IIAC; now known as the American Rivers Conference), effective after the 2015–16 academic year. * 2018 – The

joined the GPAC, effective in the 2018–19 academic year. * 2018 – Presentation College joined the GPAC as an affiliate member for men's and women's soccer, effective in the 2018 fall season (2018–19 academic year). * 2020 – Central Christian College of Kansas and

Ottawa University Ottawa University (OU) is a private Baptist university with its main campus in Ottawa, Kansas, a second residential campus in Surprise, Arizona, and adult campuses in the Kansas City, Phoenix and Milwaukee metropolitan areas. It was founded in ...

joined the GPAC as affiliate members for men's volleyball, effective in the 2021 fall season (2020–21 academic year). * 2021 – Kansas Wesleyan University joined the GPAC as an affiliate member for men's volleyball, effective in the 2022 fall season (2021–22 academic year).

Member schools

Current members

The GPAC currently has 12 full members, all are private schools: ;Notes:

Associate members

The GPAC currently has four associate members, all are private schools: ;Notes:

Former members

The GPAC had three former full members, all were private schools: ;Notes:

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1969 till:2024 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:5 left:5 bottom:40 top:5 Colors = id:line value:black id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.7,0.9,0.8) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.9,0.8,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.9,0.7,0.8) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.8,0.9,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for another sport only id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference when the other color has already been used PlotData = width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:Full from:1969 till:end text: Concordia–Nebraska (1969–present) bar:2 color:Full from:1969 till:2010 text: Dana (1969–2010) bar:3 color:Full from:1969 till:end text: Doane (1969–present) bar:4 color:Full from:1969 till:end text:

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

(1969–present) bar:5 color:Full from:1969 till:end text: Midland (1969–present) bar:6 color:Full from:1969 till:1982 text: Nebraska Wesleyan (1969–2016) bar:6 color:Full from:1982 till:2016 text:GPAC (with NCAA D-III Ind. status) bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:2016 till:end text: American Rivers bar:7 color:Full from:1992 till:end text: Northwestern (Ia.) (1992–present) bar:8 color:Full from:2000 till:end text: Dakota Wesleyan (2000–present) bar:9 color:FullxF from:2000 till:2008 text: Dordt (2000–present) bar:9 color:Full from:2008 till:end bar:10 color:FullxF from:2000 till:2022 text: Mount Marty (2000–present) bar:10 color:Full from:2022 till:end bar:11 color:Full from:2000 till:2011 text:

Sioux Falls Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up t ...

(2000–2011) bar:11 shift:(-20) color:OtherC1 from:2011 till:2012 text: D-II Ind. bar:11 color:OtherC2 from:2012 till:end text: Northern Sun bar:12 color:FullxF from:2002 till:2003 text: Briar Cliff (2002–present) bar:12 color:Full from:2003 till:end bar:13 color:Full from:2003 till:end text: Morningside (2003–present) bar:14 shift:(-20) color:FullxF from:2015 till:end text: Saint Mary (Neb.) (2015–present) bar:15 shift:(-40) color:Full from:2018 till:end text: Jamestown (2018–present) bar:16 shift:(-40) color:AssocOS from:2018 till:end text:

Presentation A presentation conveys information from a speaker to an audience. Presentations are typically demonstrations, introduction, lecture, or speech meant to inform, persuade, inspire, motivate, build goodwill, or present a new idea/product. Presenta ...

(2018–present) bar:17 shift:(-90) color:AssocOS from:2020 till:end text: Central Christian (2020–present) bar:18 shift:(-50) color:AssocOS from:2020 till:end text: Ottawa (2020–present) bar:19 shift:(-110) color:AssocOS from:2021 till:end text: Kansas Wesleyan (2021–present) bar:N color:red from:1969 till:1992 text:Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference bar:N color:white from:1992 till:2000 text:Nebraska-Iowa bar:N color:red from:2000 till:end text:Great Plains Athletic Conference ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1970 TextData = fontsize:M textcolor:black pos:(0,25) tabs:(400-center) text:^"Great Plains Athletic Conference membership history" #> If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following three options (use only the colors that are used in the graphic.) Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space. <#

Notes

References

External links

* {{NAIA conference navbox 2000 establishments in the United States College sports in South Dakota College sports in Iowa College sports in Nebraska