The Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in 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) Division III. Of its 15 member schools, all but one are located in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

; the other full member is in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. The conference also has two associate members, one in Virginia and one in North Carolina, with a third associate member in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

set to join in July 2025.

History

The conference was founded in May 1975 as the Virginia College Conference. On January 1, 1976, the name was changed to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. The 1976–77 season was the first in which championships were offered. In 1980,

Maryville College Maryville College is a Private college, private liberal arts college in Maryville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1819 by Presbyterian minister Isaac L. Anderson for the purpose of furthering education and enlightenment into the West. The colleg ...

joined and became the first member outside of Virginia. In 1981,

Catholic University Catholic higher education includes universities, colleges, and other institutions of higher education privately run by the Catholic Church, typically by religious institutes. Those tied to the Holy See are specifically called pontifical univers ...

joined the conference after leaving Division I's ECAC South Conference. In 1982–83, women's sports were added, and Hollins College (now university), Randolph–Macon Woman's College (now Randolph College), and

Sweet Briar College Sweet Briar College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's liberal arts college in Sweet Briar, Amherst County, Virginia, Amherst County, Virginia. It was established in 1901 by Indiana Fletcher Williams in ...

all joined. Mary Baldwin College (now university) joined in 1984. In 1988, Maryville left and was replaced by Virginia Wesleyan College (now university). In 1989 Catholic left the conference to become a charter member of the Capital Athletic Conference, returning in 1999 as a football-only member. They were replaced by Guilford College two years later. The next school to leave the conference was Mary Baldwin, which left in 1992. In 2010 the ODAC announced the addition of Shenandoah University as a full-time member, with its first full year of involvement during the 2012–13 academic year. The league office moved its physical location from Salem, to

Forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

in eastern Bedford County located just outside centrally located

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner and Abolitionism, abolitionist John Lynch (1740–1820), J ...

. They also contracted Jim Ward Design for its new marks. On March 3, 2015, Sweet Briar College announced it was to close (cease operations) at the end of the 2015 summer session. However, on June 20, 2015, the Virginia Attorney General announced a mediation agreement that kept Sweet Briar College open for the 2015–16 academic year. Sweet Briar reactivated its sports teams in the 2015–16 season and remained a full member of the ODAC. On September 29, 2015, it was announced that Catholic University would withdraw in 2017 as associate member to join the new football league at the

New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference The New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in the northeastern United States in the states of Connecticut, Ma ...

. In June 2017, it was announced that

Ferrum College Ferrum College is a private college in Ferrum, Virginia. The college was established in 1913 as the "Ferrum Training School" (also referred to as the "Ferrum Institute" by its board of trustees) for primary and secondary education to serve the ...

would become the 15th full-time member of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference after it moved from the USA South Conference. Southern Virginia University, which joined the ODAC as a football only member in 2019, announced in December of that year that it was leaving both the ODAC and Coast to Coast Athletic Conference to join the football-sponsoring USA South Athletic Conference as a full member. The conference has hosted Division III championships in football and men's basketball, both of which were held in

Salem, Virginia Salem is an independent city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,346. It is the county seat of Roanoke County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combine ...

. D-III softball has also used Salem as a championship host along with Division III women's lacrosse and volleyball on several occasions. Since 1993 - the conference and city have hosted over 80 Division III national championships. It was announced on November 17, 2020, that Emory & Henry College, later a university, would leave the ODAC and begin its transition to Division II in July 2021 and compete in the South Atlantic Conference in 2022. The most recent change in conference membership was announced on March 8, 2021, that Averett University would leave the USA South and join its former USA South counterpart

in the ODAC as a full member in 2022.

Chronological timeline

* 1975 – The ODAC was founded as the Virginia Athletic Conference. Charter members included Bridgewater College, Eastern Mennonite College (now Eastern Mennonite University), Emory & Henry College (now Emory & Henry University),

Hampden–Sydney College Hampden–Sydney College (H-SC) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Men's colleges in the United States, college for men in Hampden Sydney, Virginia. Founded in 1775, it is the oldest privatel ...

, Lynchburg College (now the University of Lynchburg), Randolph–Macon College,

Roanoke College Roanoke College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Salem, Virginia. It has approximately 2,000 students who represent approximately 40 states and 30 countries. The college offers ...

and

Washington and Lee University Washington and Lee University (Washington and Lee or W&L) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. Established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, it is among ...

. However, it was renamed to become the Old Dominion Athletic Conference on 1 January 1976, effective beginning the 1976–77 academic year, their first year of competition. * 1980 –

joined the ODAC, effective in the 1980–81 academic year. * 1981 –

joined the ODAC, effective in the 1981–82 academic year. * 1982 – Women's sports were instated in the ODAC, also three women's sports institutions of Hollins College (now Hollins University), Randolph–Macon Woman's College (now Randolph College) and

joined the ODAC, effective in the 1982–83 academic year. * 1984 – Mary Baldwin College (now Mary Baldwin University) joined the ODAC, effective in the 1984–85 academic year. * 1988 – Maryville left the ODAC, effective after the 1987–88 academic year. * 1989 ** Catholic (D.C.) left the ODAC, effective after the 1988–89 academic year. ** Virginia Wesleyan College (now Virginia Wesleyan University) joined the ODAC, effective in the 1989–90 academic year. * 1991 – Guilford College joined the ODAC, effective in the 1991–92 academic year. * 1992 – Mary Baldwin left the ODAC, effective after the 1991–92 academic year. * 1999 – Catholic (D.C.) re-joined the ODAC as an associate member for football, effective in the 1999 fall season (1999–2000 academic year). * 2011 – Greensboro College and Notre Dame of Maryland University joined the ODAC as associate members for women's swimming, effective in the 2011–12 academic year. * 2012 – Shenandoah University joined the ODAC, effective in the 2012-13 academic year. * 2015 –

joined the ODAC as an associate member for men's and women's swimming, effective in the 2015–16 academic year. * 2016 – Notre Dame (Md.) left the ODAC as an associate member for women's swimming by discontinuing the sport, effective after the 2015–16 academic year. * 2017 – Catholic (D.C.) left the ODAC as an associate member for football, effective after the 2016 fall season (2016–17 academic year). * 2018 – Ferrum upgraded to join the ODAC for all sports, effective in the 2018–19 academic year. * 2019 – Southern Virginia University joined the ODAC as an associate member for football, effective in the 2019 fall season (2019–20 academic year). * 2021 ** Southern Virginia left the ODAC as an associate member for football, effective after the 2020 fall season (2020–21 academic year). ** Emory & Henry left the ODAC to join the Division II ranks of the

(NCAA) by becoming an NCAA D-II Independent in the 2021–22 academic year. They joined the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) in the 2022–23 academic year. ** Averett University announced that it would join the ODAC, effective in the 2022–23 academic year. * 2022 – Southern Virginia and Greensboro joined as associate members in men's

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

in the 2022–23 academic year. * 2023 – The ODAC announced that it would add men's volleyball for the 2025 season (2024–25 academic year), initially with seven full members. At the time of announcement, Eastern Mennonite, Randolph–Macon, and Roanoke had established programs; Averett and Virginia Wesleyan were preparing to play their first varsity seasons in 2024; and Lynchburg and Randolph had committed to starting varsity play in 2025. * 2025 ** Ferrum will leave the ODAC to join the Division II ranks and

Conference Carolinas Conference Carolinas, formerly known as the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference (CVAC) or the Carolinas Conference, is a List of NCAA conferences, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) ...

(CC) in the 2025–26 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 ...

will join the ODAC as an associate member for football for the 2025 season (2025–26 academic year).

Member schools

Current members

The ODAC currently has 15 full members; all are private schools: ;Notes:

Associate members

The ODAC currently has two associate members; both are private schools:

Future associate members

Former members

The ODAC has four former full members; all are private schools: ;Notes:

Former associate members

The ODAC had three former associate members; all are private schools: ;Notes:

Membership timeline

This timeline is expressed with color bars. DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1976 till:2030 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:Full from:1976 till:end text: Bridgewater (1976–present) bar:2 color:FullxF from:1976 till:end text: Eastern Mennonite (1976–present) bar:3 color:Full from:1976 till:2021 text: Emory & Henry (1976–2021) bar:4 color:Full from:1976 till:end text: Hampden–Sydney (1976–present) bar:5 color:FullxF from:1976 till:end text: Lynchburg (1976–present) bar:6 color:Full from:1976 till:end text: Randolph–Macon (1976–present) bar:7 color:FullxF from:1976 till:2024 text: Roanoke (1976–present) bar:7 color:Full from:2024 till:end bar:8 color:Full from:1976 till:end text: Washington and Lee (1976–present) bar:9 color:Full from:1980 till:1988 text: Maryville (Tenn.) (1980–1988) bar:10 color:Full from:1981 till:1989 text:

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

(1981–1989) bar:10 color:AssocF from:1999 till:2017 text:(1999–2017) bar:11 color:FullxF from:1982 till:end text: Hollins (1982–present) bar:12 color:FullxF from:1982 till:end text: Randolph (1982–present) bar:13 color:FullxF from:1982 till:end text: Sweet Briar (1982–present) bar:14 color:FullxF from:1984 till:1992 text: Mary Baldwin (1984–1992) bar:15 color:FullxF from:1989 till:end text: Virginia Wesleyan (1989–present) bar:16 color:Full from:1991 till:end text: Guilford (1991–present) bar:17 color:AssocOS from:2011 till:end text: Greensboro (2011–present) bar:18 color:AssocOS from:2011 till:2016 text: Notre Dame (Md.) (2011–2016) bar:19 color:Full from:2012 till:end text: Shenandoah (2012–present) bar:20 color:AssocOS from:2015 till:2018 text: Ferrum (2018–2025) bar:20 color:Full from:2018 till:2025 bar:21 shift:(-40) color:AssocF from:2019 till:2021 text: Southern Virginia (2019–2021; 2022–present) bar:21 shift:(-40) color:AssocOS from:2022 till:end text: bar:22 color:Full from:2022 till:end text: Averett (2022–present) bar:23 shift:(-40) color:AssocF from:2025 till:end text: Gallaudet (2025–future) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1976 Purple denotes football playing member.
Green denotes non-football playing member.
Red denotes associate member (football-only).
Blue denotes associate member (non-football).