The Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) was an
NCAA
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. ...
Division III collegiate
athletic conference
An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams which play competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller Division (sport), divisions, with the best teams competing at successively ...
in the
Mid-Atlantic United States
The Mid-Atlantic is a region of the United States located in the overlap between the nation's Northeastern and Southeastern states. Traditional definitions include seven U.S. states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virg ...
that existed from 1992 to 2023. There were nine full member institutions when the conference. The conference's membership, as with most Middle Atlantic conferences, was shaken as a result of the formation of the
Landmark Conference and its ensuing
domino effect
A domino effect is the cumulative effect produced when one event sets off a series of similar or related events, a form of chain reaction. The term is an analogy to a falling row of dominoes. It typically refers to a linked sequence of events ...
. The conference, founded in 1992 as the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference, changed its name in 2008.
The CSAC experienced another shakeup in 2018 when five members departed the conference to join with two other institutions to form a new Division III conference
that eventually became the
Atlantic East Conference
The Atlantic East Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III and is located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.
History
Beginning play ...
. In July 2018, the CSAC added two new members.
The conference added its 10th member on July 1, 2019,
and its 11th on the same day in 2020, but was reduced to 10 members when on June 18, 2021,
Centenary University published its move to Atlantic East, starting July 1 that year, but its lacrosse teams would start competing in their new conference's 2022 season.
On December 19, 2022, the United East Conference and the Colonial States Athletic Conference announced their intent to merge beginning with the 2023–24 academic year. The conference officially ceased to exist when its ten remaining members were absorbed by the
United East Conference on July 1, 2023.
History
Chronological timeline
* 1991 – On November 4, 1991, the CSAC was founded as the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference (PAC). Charter members included
Alvernia College,
Beaver College
Arcadia University is a private university in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania, with a Glenside mailing address. The university enrolls approximately 3,200 undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students. The 94-acre (380,000 m2) Glenside cam ...
(now Arcadia University),
Cabrini College (now Cabrini University),
Cedar Crest College,
Eastern University,
Gwynedd-Mercy College (now Gwynedd Mercy University),
Immaculata University,
Marywood University,
College Misericordia (now Misericordia University), and
Rosemont College
Rosemont College is a private Catholic university in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1921 as a women's college by the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus, the undergraduate program opened to male students beginning in fall 2009. ...
, beginning the 1992–93 academic year.
* 1992 –
Neumann College (now Neumann University) joined the PAC alongside the other 10 charter members in September 1992.
* 1993 – On April 28, 1993, the PAC was granted affiliate membership within 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) in the 1993–94 academic year.
* 1993 –
Allentown College (now DeSales University) joined the PAC in the 1993–94 academic year.
* 1995 – The PAC had achieved full membership within the NCAA Division III ranks in the 1995–96 academic year.
* 1997 – DeSales left the PAC to join the
Middle Atlantic Conferences
The Middle Atlantic Conferences (MAC) is an umbrella organization of three List of NCAA conferences, intercollegiate athletic conferences that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division III, Division III. The 1 ...
after the 1996–97 academic year.
* 1997 –
Wesley College joined the PAC in the 1997–98 academic year.
* 2001 –
Shenandoah University
Shenandoah University is a private university in Winchester, Virginia, United States. It has an enrollment of approximately 4,000 students across more than 200 areas of study in six schools and colleges. Shenandoah University is one of five Unit ...
and
Villa Julie College (now Stevenson University) joined the PAC as associate members for men's lacrosse in the 2002 spring season (2001–02 academic year).
* 2006 – Stevenson left the PAC as an associate member for men's lacrosse after the 2006 spring season (2005–06 academic year).
* 2007 – Arcadia and Wesley (Del.) left the PAC to join the
Middle Atlantic Conferences
The Middle Atlantic Conferences (MAC) is an umbrella organization of three List of NCAA conferences, intercollegiate athletic conferences that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division III, Division III. The 1 ...
after the 2006–07 academic year.
* 2007 –
Centenary College of New Jersey (now Centenary University) and the
College of Notre Dame of Maryland (now Notre Dame of Maryland University) joined the PAC in the 2007–08 academic year.
* 2008 – Alvernia, Eastern (Pa.), and Misericordia left the PAC to join the Middle Atlantic Conferences after the 2007–08 academic year.
* 2008 – The PAC was re-branded as the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC), beginning the 2008–09 academic year.
* 2008 –
Baptist Bible College (now Clarks Summit University),
Keystone College and
Philadelphia Biblical University (now Cairn University) joined the CSAC in the 2008–09 academic year.
* 2012 – Shenandoah left the CSAC as an associate member for men's lacrosse after the 2012 spring season (2011–12 academic year).
* 2015 –
Franciscan University of Steubenville and
Pennsylvania State University at Erie, The Behrend College joined the CSAC as associate members for men's and women's indoor and outdoor track & field in the 2016 spring season (2015–16 academic year).
* 2018 – Cabrini, Gwynedd Mercy, Immaculata, Marywood, and Neumann left the CSAC to join the newly-formed
Atlantic East Conference
The Atlantic East Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III and is located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.
History
Beginning play ...
(AEC) after the 2017–18 academic year.
* 2018 –
Bryn Athyn College and
Wilson College joined the CSAC in the 2018–19 academic year.
* 2018 –
Alfred State College joined the CSAC as an associate member for men's and women's indoor and outdoor track & field in the 2019 spring season (2018–19 academic year).
* 2018 –
Kean University
Kean University () is a public university in Union Township, Union County, New Jersey, Union, Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth, and Hillside, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education and is a state-designated rese ...
,
Montclair State University
Montclair State University (MSU) is a public research university in Montclair, New Jersey, with parts of the campus extending into Clifton and into Little Falls. As of fall 2018, Montclair State was, by enrollment, the second largest public un ...
, and
Stockton University joined the CSAC as associate members for men's lacrosse in the 2019 spring season (2018–19 academic year).
* 2018 – The
University of Valley Forge joined the CSAC as an associate member for baseball in the 2019 spring season (2018–19 academic year).
* 2019
** Franciscan left the CSAC as an associate member for men's and women's indoor and outdoor track & field after the 2019 spring season (2018–19 academic year).
** The
College of Saint Elizabeth
Saint Elizabeth University (SEU) (formerly College of Saint Elizabeth, CSE) is a private Catholic university in Morris Township, New Jersey, United States. Portions of the campus are also in Florham Park. SEU offer 25 undergraduate degree pr ...
(now Saint Elizabeth University) joined the CSAC in the 2019–20 academic year.
**
Lancaster Bible College joined the CSAC as an associate member for field hockey in the 2019 fall season (2019–20 academic year).
* 2020
** Valley Forge would later upgrade to join the CSAC for all sports in the 2020–21 academic year.
**
Gallaudet University
Gallaudet University ( ) is a private federally chartered university in Washington, D.C., for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing. It was founded in 1864 as a grammar school for both deaf and blind children. It was the first school ...
joined the CSAC as an associate member for men's and women's indoor and outdoor track & field in the 2021 spring season (2020–21 academic year).
* 2021
** Centenary (N.J.) left the CSAC to join Atlantic East Conference after the 2020–21 academic year; although its field hockey and women's lacrosse teams would remain in the CSAC as associate members until the 2022 spring season (2021–22 academic year).
**
Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...
joined the CSAC as an associate member for men's volleyball in the 2022 spring season (2021–22 academic year).
* 2022
** The CSAC and the
United East Conference announced their intent to merge, beginning in the fall 2023 season.
** Lancaster Bible added men's volleyball to its CSAC membership in the 2023 spring season (2022–23 academic year).
* 2023
** Notre Dame of Maryland would add men's sports for the 2023–24 academic year.
** The CSAC and United East officially announced that the merged conference would retain the United East name, officially ending the CSAC on July 1, 2023.
Member schools
Final members
The CSAC had ten final 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:
Final affiliate members
The CSAC had nine affiliate members when it dissolved:
;Notes:
Former members
The CSAC had 12 former 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:
Former affiliate members
The CSAC had seven former affiliate members, four 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 ...
and three were public schools:
;Notes:
Membership timeline
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1992 till:2025
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#
Colors =
id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7)
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports
id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football
id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only
id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.5,0.691,0.824) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all (consider identifying in legend or a footnote)
id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference
id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two
PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:FullxF from:1992 till:2008 text: Alvernia (1992–2008)
bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:2008 till:end text: MAC-C
bar:2 color:FullxF from:1992 till:2007 text: Arcadia (1992–2007)
bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2008 text: MAC-F
bar:2 shift:(20) color:OtherC2 from:2008 till:2020 text: MAC-C
bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:end text: MAC-F
bar:3 color:FullxF from:1992 till:2018 text: Cabrini (1992–2018)
bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:2018 till:2024 text: AEC, then acquired
bar:4 color:FullxF from:1992 till:2023 text: Cedar Crest (1992–2023)
bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text: UEC
bar:5 color:FullxF from:1992 till:2008 text: Eastern (Pa.) (1992–2008)
bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:2008 till:2020 text: MAC-F
bar:5 color:OtherC2 from:2020 till:end text: MAC-F
bar:6 color:FullxF from:1992 till:2018 text: Gwynedd Mercy (1992–2018)
bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:2018 till:end text: AEC
bar:7 color:FullxF from:1992 till:2018 text: Immaculata (1992–2018)
bar:7 color:OtherC1 from:2018 till:end text: AEC
bar:8 color:FullxF from:1992 till:2018 text: Marywood (1992–2018)
bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:2018 till:end text: AEC
bar:9 color:FullxF from:1992 till:2008 text: Misericordia (1992–2008)
bar:9 color:OtherC1 from:2008 till:end text: MAC-F
bar:10 color:FullxF from:1992 till:2018 text:Neumann
Neumann () is a German language, German surname, with its origins in the pre-7th-century (Old English) word ''wikt:neowe, neowe'' meaning "new", with ''wikt:mann, mann'', meaning man. The English form of the name is Newman. Von Neumann is a varian ...
(1992–2018)
bar:10 color:OtherC1 from:2018 till:end text: AEC
bar:11 color:FullxF from:1992 till:2023 text: Rosemont (1992–2023)
bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text: UEC
bar:12 color:FullxF from:1993 till:1997 text: DeSales (1993–1997)
bar:12 shift:(20) color:OtherC1 from:1997 till:1999 text: MAC
bar:12 color:OtherC2 from:1999 till:end text: MAC-F
bar:13 color:FullxF from:1997 till:2007 text: Wesley (Del.) (1997–2007)
bar:13 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2018 text: CAC
bar:13 color:OtherC2 from:2018 till:2021 text: AEC, then acquired
bar:14 color:AssocOS from:2001 till:2012 text: Shenandoah (2001–2012; m. lacrosse)
bar:15 color:AssocOS from:2001 till:2006 text: Villa Marie (2001–2006; m. lacrosse)
bar:16 color:FullxF from:2007 till:2021 text: Centenary (N.J.) (2007–2021)
bar:16 color:AssocOS from:2021 till:2022 text: AEC (with CSAC f.h. & w.lax.)
bar:16 color:OtherC1 from:2022 till:end text:
bar:17 color:FullxF from:2007 till:2023 text: Notre Dame (Md.) (2007–2023)
bar:17 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text: UEC
bar:18 color:FullxF from:2008 till:2023 text:Cairn
A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the (plural ).
Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, t ...
(2008–2023)
bar:18 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text: UEC
bar:19 color:FullxF from:2008 till:2023 text: Clarks Summit (2008–2023)
bar:19 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text: UEC
bar:20 color:FullxF from:2008 till:2023 text: Keystone (2008–2023)
bar:20 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text: UEC
bar:21 color:AssocOS from:2015 till:2019 text: Franciscan (Oh.) (2015–2019; outdoor t&f)
bar:22 color:AssocOS from:2015 till:2023 text: Penn State–Erie (2015–2023; outdoor t&f)
bar:23 color:FullxF from:2018 till:2023 text: Bryn Athyn (2018–2023)
bar:23 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text: UEC
bar:24 color:FullxF from:2018 till:2023 text: Wilson (2018–2023)
bar:24 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text: UEC
bar:25 color:AssocOS from:2018 till:2023 text: Alfred State (2018–2023; outdoor t&f)
bar:26 color:AssocOS from:2018 till:2022 text: Kean (2018–2022; m. lacrosse)
bar:27 color:AssocOS from:2018 till:2022 text: Montclair State (2018–2022; m. lacrosse)
bar:28 color:AssocOS from:2018 till:2022 text: Stockton (2018–2022; m. lacrosse)
bar:29 color:AssocOS from:2018 till:2020 text:Valley Forge
Valley Forge was the winter encampment of the Continental Army, under the command of George Washington, during the American Revolutionary War. The Valley Forge encampment lasted six months, from December 19, 1777, to June 19, 1778. It was the t ...
(2018–2020, baseball; 2020–2023, full)
bar:29 color:FullxF from:2020 till:2023 text:
bar:29 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text: UEC
bar:30 color:AssocOS from:2019 till:2023 text: Lancaster Bible (2019–2023, field hockey; 2022–2023, m. volleyball)
bar:31 color:FullxF from:2019 till:2023 text: Saint Elizabeth (2019–2023)
bar:31 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text: UEC
bar:32 color:AssocOS from:2020 till:2023 text: Gallaudet (2020–2023; outdoor t&f)
bar:33 color:AssocOS from:2021 till:2023 text: Sweet Briar (2021–2023; field hockey, w. lacrosse)
bar:34 color:AssocOS from:2022 till:2023 text: Eastern Nazarene (2022–2023; m. lacrosse)
bar:35 color:AssocOS from:2022 till:2023 text: Mitchell (2022–2023; m. lacrosse)
bar:36 color:AssocOS from:2022 till:2023 text: New England College (2022–2023; m. lacrosse)
bar:37 color:AssocOS from:2022 till:2023 text: Pratt (2022–2023; m. volleyball)
bar:N color:powderblue from:1992 till:2008 text:Pennsylvania Athletic Conference (PAC)
bar:N color:blue from:2008 till:2023 text:Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC)
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1992
Staff
* Marie Stroman - Commissioner
* Antonio "Tone" Cockrell - Assistant Commissioner of Strategic Initiatives
References
{{reflist