The American Mideast Conference (AMC) was an affiliate of the

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

that included eight member institutions in

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, and

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. Founded in 1949, it was known as the Mid-Ohio League, and named the Mid-Ohio Conference from 1962 until 1998, when it adopted its final moniker. The name change was the first step in a multi-phase expansion that extended the conference into states beyond Ohio before the league was eventually disbanded in 2012.

History

In its final five years the conference experienced a number of changes, with numerous members moving to the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA). Former members Roberts Wesleyan and

Walsh University Walsh University is a Private university, private Catholic university in North Canton, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1960 by the Brothers of Christian Instruction as a liberal arts college, it enrolls approximately 2,100 students as of 2023. ...

received admission to the NCAA and underwent the process of transferring athletics into Division II;

Houghton College Houghton University is a Private university, private Christian liberal arts college in Houghton, New York, United States. Houghton was founded in 1883 by Willard J. Houghton and is affiliated with the Wesleyan Church.Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Third ...

and joined the Empire 8 conference in 2012–13. Daemen, Roberts Wesleyan, and Point Park applied for NCAA Division II status in June 2011 and in July Roberts Wesleyan was approved for membership. Also in June 2011 former AMC members Cedarville, Notre Dame College, Urbana, and

Ursuline College Ursuline College is a private Catholic college in Pepper Pike, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1871 by the Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland and is one of the oldest institutions of higher education for women in the United States and the ...

announced the creation of a new NCAA DII conference that hoped to develop and expand for an anticipated lifting of the moratorium on new NCAA DII conferences in 2013. In July 2011, Cedarville and Notre Dame were awarded NCAA provisional status, while

Malone University Malone University is a private Christian university in Canton, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1892 by Walter and Emma Malone as a small, co-educational Bible institute called Cleveland Bible College. The institution has always maintaine ...

and

were granted candidacy year two, all three left the NAIA and AMC for the 2011–12 academic year. With the addition of

Fisher College Fisher College is a private college in Boston, Massachusetts, with satellite campuses in Brockton and New Bedford. It is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE). History Fisher College first opened its doors in 19 ...

from the collapsed

Sunrise Athletic Conference The Sunrise Athletic Conference was a college athletic conference founded in 2002 and affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Its member institutions were in Maine, Massachusetts, New York (state), New York, a ...

, there were reports that the AMC would operate as an eight team conference in 2011–12 with the eight teams being Carlow, Daemen, Fisher, Houghton, Point Park, Roberts Wesleyan, Wilberforce, and Walsh. However, on January 12, 2012, the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC; now known as the

River States Conference The River States Conference (RSC), formerly known as the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC), is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Although it was historica ...

) announced that it had accepted

Point Park University Point Park University is a private university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Formerly known as Point Park College, the school name was revised in 2004 to reflect the number of graduate programs being offered. In 2021, it had a total undergraduate ...

and

Carlow University Carlow University is a private Catholic university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1929 by the Sisters of Mercy. The university's athletic teams are known as the Celtics, reflecting its Irish heritage. As of 2017 ...

as full members beginning with the 2012–13 school year. This left

and

Wilberforce University Wilberforce University (WU) is a private university in Wilberforce, Ohio. It is one of three historically black universities established before the American Civil War. Founded in 1856 by the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC), it is named after ...

as the only remaining members, but as they have now become

NAIA independent schools NAIA independent schools are four-year institutional members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) that do not have formal conference affiliations. NAIA schools that are not members of any other athletic conference are ...

in the Association of Independent Institutions, the conference has been shut down.

Chronological timeline

* 1949 – The American Mideast Conference was founded as the Mid-Ohio League (MOL). Charter members included Ashland College (now Ashland University),

Bluffton College Bluffton University is a private Mennonite university in Bluffton, Ohio. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, with three programs that have earned programmatic accreditation: education, nursing and social work. The university has ...

(now Bluffton University),

Cedarville College Cedarville University is a private Baptist university in Cedarville, Ohio. It is chartered by the state of Ohio, approved by the Ohio Board of Regents, and accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Established in 1887, the school was origi ...

(now Cedarville University), Defiance College, and

Findlay College The University of Findlay (UF) is a private Christian university in Findlay, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1882 through a joint partnership between the Churches of God General Conference and the city of Findlay. UF has nearly 80 ...

(now the University of Findlay) beginning the 1949–50 academic year. * 1950 –

Ohio Northern University Ohio Northern University (Ohio Northern or ONU) is a private college in Ada, Ohio, United States. Founded by Henry Solomon Lehr in 1871, ONU offers over 60 programs across five undergraduate and graduate colleges and is affiliated with the Unit ...

joined the MOL in the 1950–51 academic year. * 1955 – Wilmington College joined the MOL in the 1955–56 academic year. * 1962 – Findlay and Ohio Northern left the MOL after the 1961–62 academic year. * 1962 – The MOL had rebranded as the Mid-Ohio Conference (MOC) in the 1962–63 academic year. * 1965 – Malone College (now Malone University) joined the MOC in the 1965–66 academic year. * 1966 – Ashland left the MOC after the 1965–66 academic year. * 1967 – Findlay re-joined the MOC for a second time in the 1967–68 academic year. * 1971 – Bluffton, Defiance, and Wilmington (with Findlay for a second time) left the MOC to form part as charter members of the Hoosier–Buckeye Collegiate Conference (HBCC) after the 1970–71 academic year. * 1971 – Ohio Dominican College (now Ohio Dominican University), Rio Grande College (now the University of Rio Grande), and

Urbana College Urbana University was a private university specializing in liberal arts education and located in Urbana, Ohio. In its final few years, it was purchased by Franklin University and was a branch campus of that university. History Urbana Universit ...

(now Urbana University) joined the MOC in the 1971–72 academic year. * 1973 –

Tiffin University Tiffin University is a private university in Tiffin, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1888. History Tiffin University began as a Commercial College, affiliated for 30 years with Heidelberg College, as a financially independent and sepa ...

joined the MOC in the 1973–74 academic year. * 1975 – Mount Vernon Nazarene College (now Mount Vernon Nazarene University) joined the MOC in the 1975–76 academic year. * 1976 –

Walsh College Walsh College is a private college in Troy, Michigan. Founded in 1922 by Mervyn B. Walsh, it is an upper division undergraduate and graduate institution that primarily focuses on business education. History The college began with the foundin ...

(now Walsh University) joined the MOC in the 1976–77 academic year. * 1989 – Malone left the MOC after the 1988–89 academic year. * 1991 –

Shawnee State University Shawnee State University (SSU) is a public university in Portsmouth, Ohio, United States, established in 1986. It is the southernmost member of the University System of Ohio. History Although its roots date back to 1945 when Ohio University est ...

joined the MOC in the 1991–92 academic year. * 1993 – Two institutions re-joined the MOC (Findlay for a third time, and Malone for a second time) in the 1993–94 academic year. * 1997 – Findlay left the MOC for a third time and the NAIA to join the Division II ranks of the

(NCAA) and the

Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. The GLIAC was founded in June 1972. Its eleven member ...

(GLIAC) after the 1996–97 academic year. * 1998 – The MOC had rebranded as the American Mideast Conference during its 50th anniversary in the 1998–99 academic year. * 1998 –

Geneva College Geneva College is a private Christian college in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1848 in Northwood, Ohio, the college moved to its present location in 1880. It enrolls about 1,400 undergraduates in over 30 majors, as wel ...

, Notre Dame College and

Saint Vincent College Saint Vincent College is a private Catholic, Benedictines, Benedictine college in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 by Boniface Wimmer, a monk from Bavaria, it is operated by the Benedictine Monks of Saint Vincent Archabbey, the first Bene ...

joined the American Mideast in the 1998–99 academic year. * 1999 – Point Park College (now Point Park University), Seton Hill College (now Seton Hill University), and

joined the American Mideast in the 1999–2000 academic year. * 2000 –

Central State University Central State University (CSU) is a public, historically black land-grant university in Wilberforce, Ohio, United States. It is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Established by the state legislature in 1887 as a two-y ...

joined the American Mideast in the 2000–01 academic year. * 2001 – Carlow College (now Carlow University),

Daemen College Daemen University is a private university in Amherst and Brooklyn, New York, United States. Formerly Daemen College and Rosary Hill College, the now-nondenominational school was founded by the Sisters of St. Francis in 1947. As of fall 2020, ...

(now Daemen University),

Houghton College Houghton University is a Private university, private Christian liberal arts college in Houghton, New York, United States. Houghton was founded in 1883 by Willard J. Houghton and is affiliated with the Wesleyan Church.Roberts Wesleyan College Roberts Wesleyan University is a private Christian university in suburban Rochester, New York, United States. Anchored in the liberal arts, it was the first educational institution established for Free Methodists in North America. Roberts is ac ...

(now Roberts Wesleyan University), and

joined the American Mideast in the 2001–02 academic year. * 2002 – Central State left the American Mideast and the NAIA to join the NCAA Division II ranks as an NCAA D-II Independent after the 2001–02 academic year. * 2006 – Saint Vincent left the American Mideast and the NAIA to join the

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

ranks and the

Presidents' Athletic Conference The Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Of its 11 member schools, all private, liberal arts institutions of higher learning, nine are located in Western Penn ...

(Presidents') after the 2005–06 academic year. * 2007 – Three institutions left the American Mideast and the NAIA to join their respective new home primary conferences: Geneva to join the NCAA Division III ranks and the Presidents', Seton Hill to join the NCAA Division II ranks and the

West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) was a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference which historically operated exclusively in the state of West Virginia, but briefly had one Kentucky member in its early y ...

(WVIAC), and Tiffin to join the NCAA Division II ranks as an NCAA D-II Independent (who would later join the GLIAC beginning the 2008–09 academic year) after the 2006–07 academic year. * 2007 – The

University of Northwestern Ohio The University of Northwestern Ohio (UNOH) is a private university in Lima, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1920 and grants associate degrees, bachelor's degrees, and master's degrees across more than 50 disciplines within five constitue ...

joined the American Mideast as an associate member for some sports in the 2007–08 academic year. * 2008 – Urbana left the American Mideast and the NAIA to join the NCAA Division II ranks as an NCAA D-II Independent (who would later join the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) beginning the 2012–13 academic year) after the 2007–08 academic year. * 2008 – Northwestern Ohio had upgraded to full membership within the American Mideast for all sports in the 2008–09 academic year. * 2009 – Two institutions left the American Mideast to join their respective new home primary conferences: Ohio Dominican to leave the NAIA to join the NCAA Division II ranks as an NCAA D-II Independent (who would later join the GLIAC in the 2010–11 academic year), and Rio Grande to the

Mid-South Conference The Mid-South Conference (MSC) is a List of college athletic conferences in the United States, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member institutions are located in Kentuc ...

after the 2008–09 academic year. * 2010 – Two institutions left the American Mideast to join their respective new home primary conferences: Northwestern Ohio to the

Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference The Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), headquartered in Livonia, Michigan. The conference consists of twelve colleges and u ...

(WHAC), and Shawnee State to the

(MSC) after the 2009–10 academic year. * 2011 – Four institutions left the American Mideast to join their respective new home primary conferences: Cedarville, Notre Dame (Ohio), and Ursuline (with Malone for a second time) to leave the NAIA to join the NCAA Division II ranks as NCAA D-II Independents (which Cedarville and Ursuline later join the G-MAC; Malone would later join the GLIAC beginning the 2012–13 academic year; and Notre Dame (Oh.) would later join the

Mountain East Conference The Mountain East Conference (MEC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level and officially began competition on September 1, 2013. It consists of 11 schools, m ...

beginning the 2013–14 academic year), and Mount Vernon Nazarene to the Crossroads League, all effective after the 2010–11 academic year. * 2011 –

joined the American Mideast in the 2011–12 academic year. * 2012 – The American Mideast ceased operations as an athletic conference after the 2011–12 academic year; as many schools left to join their respective new home primary conferences beginning the 2012–13 academic year: Roberts Wesleyan to leave the NAIA to join the NCAA Division II ranks and the

East Coast Conference The East Coast Conference (ECC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located primarily in the state of New York, with a single ...

(ECC; formerly known as the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference), Houghton to leave the NAIA to join the NCAA Division III ranks and the Empire 8 Athletic Conference, Walsh to leave the NAIA to join the NCAA Division II ranks and the GLIAC, Carlow and Point Park to the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC; now known as the River States Conference), and Daemen, Fisher and Wilberforce as NAIA Independents within the Association of Independent Institutions (although Daemen would later follow Roberts Wesleyan to join the NCAA D-II ECC, beginning the 2013–14 academic year).

Member schools

A list of past members of the American Mideast Conference:

Final members

The American Mideast ended with eight full members, all were

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

schools: ;Notes:

Members leaving before 2012

The American Mideast had 21 former full members, all but two were

schools: ;Notes:

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1949 till:2015 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:5 left:5 bottom:40 top:5 Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) 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:FullxF from:1949 till:1966 text: Ashland (1949–1966) bar:2 color:FullxF from:1949 till:1971 text: Bluffton (1949–1971) bar:3 color:FullxF from:1949 till:2011 text: Cedarville (1949–2011) bar:4 color:FullxF from:1949 till:1971 text: Defiance (1949–1971) bar:5 color:FullxF from:1949 till:1962 text: Findlay (1949–1962) bar:5 color:FullxF from:1967 till:1971 text:(1967–1971) bar:5 color:FullxF from:1993 till:1997 text:(1993–1997) bar:6 color:FullxF from:1950 till:1962 text: Ohio Northern (1950–1962) bar:7 color:FullxF from:1955 till:1971 text: Wilmington (1955–1971) bar:8 color:FullxF from:1965 till:1989 text: Malone (1965–1989) bar:8 color:FullxF from:1993 till:2011 text:(1993–2011) bar:9 color:FullxF from:1971 till:2009 text: Ohio Dominican (1971–2009) bar:10 color:FullxF from:1971 till:2009 text:

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...

(1971–2009) bar:11 color:FullxF from:1971 till:2008 text: Urbana (1971–2008) bar:12 color:FullxF from:1973 till:2007 text:

Tiffin Tiffin is a South Asian English word for a type of meal. It refers to a light breakfast or a light tea-time meal at about 3 p.m., consisting of typical tea-time foods. In certain parts of India, it can also refer to the midday luncheon or ...

(1973–2007) bar:13 color:FullxF from:1975 till:2011 text: Mount Vernon Nazarene (1975–2011) bar:14 color:FullxF from:1976 till:2012 text:

Walsh Walsh may refer to: People and fictional characters * Walsh (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters Places Australia * Mount Walsh, Mount Walsh National Park Canada * Fort Walsh, one of the first Royal Canadian Mounted ...

(1976–2012) bar:15 color:FullxF from:1991 till:2010 text: Shawnee State (1991–2010) bar:16 color:FullxF from:1998 till:2007 text:

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

(1998–2007) bar:17 color:FullxF from:1998 till:2011 text: Notre Dame (Oh.) (1998–2011) bar:18 color:FullxF from:1998 till:2006 text: Saint Vincent (1998–2006) bar:19 color:FullxF from:1999 till:2012 text: Point Park (1999–2012) bar:20 color:FullxF from:1999 till:2007 text: Seton Hill (1999–2007) bar:21 color:FullxF from:1999 till:2012 text: Wilberforce (1999–2012) bar:22 color:FullxF from:2000 till:2002 text: Central State (2000–2002) bar:23 color:FullxF from:2001 till:2012 text:

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had a population of 27,351, the List of urban areas in the Republic of Ireland, ...

(2001–2012) bar:24 color:FullxF from:2001 till:2012 text: Daemen (2001–2012) bar:25 color:FullxF from:2001 till:2012 text: Houghton (2001–2012) bar:26 color:FullxF from:2001 till:2012 text: Roberts Wesleyan (2001–2012) bar:27 color:FullxF from:2001 till:2011 text: Ursuline (2001–2011) bar:28 shift:(-100) color:FullxF from:2008 till:2010 text:

Northwestern Ohio Northwest Ohio, or Northwestern Ohio, consists of multiple counties in the northwestern corner of the US state of Ohio. This area borders Lake Erie, Southeast Michigan, and northeastern Indiana. Some areas are also considered the Great Black Sw ...

(2008–2010) bar:29 shift:(-80) color:FullxF from:2011 till:2012 text: Fisher (2011–2012) bar:N color:red from:1949 till:1962 text:Mid-Ohio League bar:N color:blue from:1962 till:1998 text:Mid-Ohio Conference bar:N color:red from:1998 till:end text:American Mideast Conference ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1950 TextData = fontsize:M textcolor:black pos:(0,25) tabs:(400-center) text:^"American Mideast 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. <#

Sports

The AMC formerly sponsored 15 sports: * Women's championships: cross-country,

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

* Men's championships: cross-country,

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

Administration

Presidents of member institutions maintained active rolls of governance over the organization by way of the Council of Presidents. Additionally, the AMC included a staff of conference officials: *James D. Houdeshell, Commissioner *Mark Womack, AMC Administrative Assistant *Deron Brown, Supervisor of Umpires, Baseball *Linda Cairney, Supervisor of Umpires, Softball *Bill Ek, Supervisor of Officials, Basketball *Karen Fulks, Treasurer *James Phipps, Eligibility Chair *Diane Plas, Supervisor of Officials, Women's Basketball, Volleyball *Kim Vieira, Supervisor of Officials, Men's and Women's soccer

References

{{Reflist 1949 establishments in the United States Sports leagues disestablished in 2012