The West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) was a 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 ...

which historically operated exclusively in the state of

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, but briefly had one

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

member in its early years, and expanded into

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 ...

in its final years. It participated in the Division II ranks of 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), originally affiliated in 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 ...

(NAIA) until 1995, but held its final athletic competitions in spring 2013, and officially disbanded on September 1 of that year. Its football-playing members announced in June 2012 that they planned to withdraw to form a new Division II conference at the end of the 2012–13 season; this led to a chain of conference moves that saw all but one of the WVIAC's members find new conference homes.

History

The conference was one of the oldest in intercollegiate athletics, dating back to its founding in 1924 by the West Virginia Department of Education. In its final school year of 2012–13, the WVIAC offered championships in 16 sports and was headquartered in

Princeton, West Virginia Princeton is a city in Mercer County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. The population was 5,872 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Bluefield micropolitan area. History Early history Princeton was ...

. Men's championships were offered in football, basketball, baseball, track, cross country, soccer, tennis, and golf. Women's titles were contested in volleyball, softball, basketball, cross country, soccer, track, tennis, and golf. The WVIAC moved into the NCAA Division II in 1995 after its long affiliation with the NAIA. Its post-season basketball tournament, which was first conducted in 1936, was at the time of the conference's demise one of the oldest college post-season tournaments in continuous existence—only the

Southern Conference men's basketball tournament This is a list of regular season and tournament champions in men's basketball of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, ath ...

, established in 1922, was older.

Chronological timeline

* 1924 – The West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) was founded. Charter members included Alderson College, Bethany College,

Broaddus College Andrew Broaddus (May 15, 1900 – September 7, 1972) was mayor of Louisville, Kentucky, from December 1953 to December 1957. Life He was born and died in Louisville. After serving in the Navy during World War I he attended Centre College in nea ...

, Concord State Normal School (now Concord University),

Davis & Elkins College Davis & Elkins College (D&E) is a private college in Elkins, West Virginia, United States. It operates as a nonprofit liberal arts college and is affiliated with the Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities. History The school was ...

, Fairmont State Normal School (now Fairmont State University), Glenville State Normal School (now Glenville State University), the Keyser Preparatory Branch of West Virginia University (now as Potomac State College), Marshall College (now Marshall University), Morris Harvey College (now the University of Charleston), New River State School (now the West Virginia Tech Institute of Technology),

Salem College Salem College is a private women's liberal arts college in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1772 as a primary school, it later became an academy (high school) and ultimately added the college. It is the oldest female educational esta ...

(now Salem University), Shepherd College (now Shepherd University), West Liberty State Teachers College (now West Liberty University), the

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

and

West Virginia Wesleyan College West Virginia Wesleyan College is a private college in Buckhannon, West Virginia, United States. It has an enrollment of about 1,055 students from 35 U.S. states and 26 countries. The school was founded in 1890 by the West Virginia Conference of ...

, beginning the 1924–25 academic year. * 1927 – West Virginia left the WVIAC after the 1926–27 academic year. * 1929 – Morehead State Normal and Teachers College (now Morehead State University) joined the WVIAC in the 1929–30 academic year. * 1932 –

Alderson–Broaddus College Alderson Broaddus University (AB) was a Private university, private Baptist university in Philippi, West Virginia. It was founded in 1871 and suspended its operations on August 31, 2023. It was historically affiliated with the American Baptist C ...

(now Alderson–Broaddus University) joined the WVIAC due to the merger of both Alderson and Broaddus Colleges in the 1932–33 academic year. * 1933 – Two institutions left the WVIAC to join their respective new home primary conferences, both effective after the 1932–33 academic year: ** Marshall to the

Buckeye Conference The Buckeye Athletic Association, also known as the Buckeye Conference, was an athletic league formed out of members of the Ohio Athletic Conference. Its original membership in 1926 included Ohio Wesleyan University (Battling Bishops), Ohio Univer ...

** and Morehead State to fully align with the

Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic 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 ...

(KIAC) (a second conference they had joined since the 1931–32 school year) * 1939 – Marshall rejoined the WVIAC as a non-competing member in the 1939–40 academic year. * 1946 –

Mountain State University Mountain State University (MSU) was a private university in Beckley, West Virginia. It closed in 2013. It was formerly named Beckley College and then The College of West Virginia. Its Beckley campus is now the campus of West Virginia Universit ...

joined the WVIAC in the 1946–47 academic year. * 1948 – Marshall left the WVIAC for a second time to join the

University Division The NCAA University Division was a historic subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) consisting of member schools competing at the highest level of college sports. The University Division was first established as a basis ...

ranks of the

(NCAA) and the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in partnership with ...

(OVC) after the 1947–48 academic year. * 1955 –

Bluefield State College Bluefield State University is a public historically black university (HBCU) in Bluefield, West Virginia. The university is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. History The Bluefield Colored Institute was founded in 1895 as ...

(now Bluefield State University) and

West Virginia State College West Virginia State University (WVSU) is a public historically black, land-grant university in Institute, West Virginia, United States. Founded in 1891 as the West Virginia Colored Institute. It is one of the original 19 land-grant colleges a ...

(now West Virginia State University) joined the WVIAC in the 1955–56 academic year. * 1957 –

Wheeling College Wheeling University (WU, formerly Wheeling Jesuit University) is a private Catholic university in Wheeling, West Virginia, United States. It was founded as "Wheeling College" in 1954 by the Society of Jesus (also known as the Jesuits) and was a ...

(later Wheeling Jesuit College, then Wheeling Jesuit University, now Wheeling University) joined the WVIAC in the 1957–58 academic year. * 1962 – Bethany left the WVIAC to fully align with 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 ...

(PAC; a second conference they had joined since the 1958–59 school year) after the 1961–62 academic year. * 1963 – Potomac State left the WVIAC after the 1962–63 academic year. * 1977 – Mountain State left the WVIAC after the 1976–77 academic year. * 1986 – West Virginia Wesleyan left the WVIAC after the 1985–86 academic year. * 1988 – West Virginia Wesleyan rejoined the WVIAC in the 1988–89 academic year. * 1993 – The WVIAC joined the NCAA ranks, while still being affiliated with the

(NAIA), beginning the 1993–94 academic year. * 1995 – The WVIAC had achieved full membership status within the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

ranks after years being mostly affiliated in the NAIA, beginning the 1995–96 academic year. * 1999 –

Ohio Valley University Ohio Valley University was a private Christian college located between Parkersburg and Vienna in West Virginia. Founded in 1958 (with classes beginning in fall 1960), the school integrated education with teachings of the Christian faith. The co ...

joined the WVIAC in the 1999–2000 academic year. * 2006: ** West Virginia Tech left the WVIAC to return to the NAIA and join 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 ...

(MSC) after the 2005–06 academic year. ** The

University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown (UPJ or Pitt-Johnstown) is a state-related college in the Johnstown, Pennsylvania area. It is a baccalaureate degree-granting regional campus of the University of Pittsburgh. The university is located in ...

(Pittsburgh–Johnstown) and

Seton Hill University Seton Hill University is a private Catholic university in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally a women's college, it became a coeducational university in 2002 and enrolls about 2,200 students. History The school was founded i ...

joined the WVIAC as provisional members in the 2006–07 academic year; becoming the first two institutions to join the conference from outside the state of West Virginia since the departure of Morehead in 1933. * 2010 – Salem left the WVIAC to become an NCAA D-II Independent after the 2009–10 academic year. * 2013 – The WVIAC ceased operations as an athletic conference after the 2012–13 academic year; as many schools left to join their respective new home primary conferences, beginning the 2013–14 academic year. The only school since the conference's breakup who hadn't still found a new conference home was Bluefield State, which ultimately ended up as a D-II Independent (until it rejoined the CIAA beginning the 2023–24 school year) alongside former member Salem (who would later join the G-MAC from 2013–14 to 2015–16, before returning as an independent): ** Alderson–Broaddus, Davis & Elkins and Ohio Valley joined the

Great Midwest Athletic Conference The Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. It was named the 24th (at the time) NCAA Division II conference and op ...

(G-MAC) ** Concord, Charleston, Fairmont State, Glenville State, Shepherd, West Liberty, West Virginia State, West Virginia Wesleyan and Wheeling Jesuit joined alongside

Notre Dame College of Ohio Notre Dame College (Notre Dame College of Ohio or NDC) was a private Roman Catholic college in South Euclid, Ohio. Established in 1922 by the Sisters of Notre Dame as a women's college, it was coeducational from January 2001 until its closure ...

(a former full D-II Independent school),

Urbana University 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 Universi ...

(from the G-MAC), and the

University of Virginia's College at Wise The University of Virginia's College at Wise (UVA Wise) is a public liberal arts college adjacent to Wise, Virginia. It is part of the University of Virginia, though separately accredited, and was established in 1954 as Clinch Valley College of t ...

(from the

of the NAIA) to form 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 ...

(MEC) ** and Pittsburgh–Johnstown and Seton Hill joined the

Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. The conference was originally formed in 1951 as the State Teachers C ...

(PSAC)

WVIAC breakup

On June 18, 2012, nine football-playing members of the WVIAC announced they would withdraw from the league to form a new regional all-sports conference. The WVIAC officially ceased to exist on September 1, 2013. Eight of the nine football-playing members (Concord, Charleston, Fairmont State, Glenville State, Shepherd, West Liberty, West Virginia State, and West Virginia Wesleyan) and one non-football playing member (Wheeling Jesuit) of the conference joined a provisional D-II member from Virginia ( UVA-Wise) and two associate

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 ...

members from Ohio ( Notre Dame and Urbana) to form a new all-sports conference, the

. Seton Hill and Pitt-Johnstown joined the

. Three of the remaining non-football members (Alderson–Broaddus, Davis & Elkins, and Ohio Valley) accepted invitations to join the

. The final remaining member, Bluefield State, competed as a D-II independent for 9 years before being invited to rejoin its former conference in the

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (originally and through 1950 known as the Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association — CIAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NC ...

in 2023.CIAA expected to add Bluefield State, cut ties with Chowan
/ref>

Member schools at breakup

;Notes:

Member schools leaving before 2013

;Notes:

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1924 till:2013 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:1924 till:1932 text: Alderson (1924–1932) bar:2 color:Full from:1924 till:1962 text:

Bethany Bethany (,Murphy-O'Connor, 2008, p152/ref> Syriac language, Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܥܢܝܐ ''Bēṯ ʿAnyā''), locally called in Palestinian Arabic, Arabic Al-Eizariya or al-Aizariya (, "Arabic nouns and adjectives#Nisba,

lace Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is split into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...

of Lazarus (name), L ...

(1924–1962) bar:2 color:AssocF from:1963 till:1964 bar:3 color:FullxF from:1924 till:1932 text: Broaddus (1924–1932) bar:4 color:Full from:1924 till:1957 text: Charleston (1924–2013) bar:4 color:FullxF from:1957 till:2003 bar:4 color:Full from:2003 till:2013 bar:5 color:Full from:1924 till:2013 text:

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other words Arts and media * ''Concord'' (video game), a defunct 2024 first-person sh ...

(1924–2013) bar:6 color:Full from:1924 till:1953 text: Davis & Elkins (1924–2013) bar:6 color:FullxF from:1953 till:1955 bar:6 color:Full from:1955 till:1962 bar:6 color:FullxF from:1962 till:2013 bar:7 color:Full from:1924 till:2013 text: Fairmont State (1924–2013) bar:8 color:Full from:1924 till:2013 text: Glenville State (1924–2013) bar:9 color:Full from:1924 till:1933 text:

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

(1924–1933; 1939–1948) bar:9 color:FullxF from:1939 till:1948 bar:10 color:Full from:1924 till:1963 text: Potomac State (1924–1963) bar:10 color:AssocF from:1964 till:1965 bar:11 color:Full from:1924 till:1989 text:

Salem International SALEM International gemeinnützige GmbH is a German charitable company with limited liability based in Stadtsteinach. It describes itself as an international non-denominational Christian non-profit welfare organisation. Its guiding principles in ...

(1924–2010) bar:11 color:FullxF from:1989 till:2010 bar:12 color:Full from:1924 till:2013 text:

Shepherd A shepherd is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations; it exists in many parts of the globe, and it is an important part of Pastoralism, pastoralist animal husbandry. ...

(1924–2013) bar:13 color:Full from:1924 till:2013 text: West Liberty (1924–2013) bar:14 color:Full from:1924 till:1927 text:

(1924–1927) bar:15 color:Full from:1924 till:2006 text:

West Virginia Tech West Virginia University Institute of Technology (WVU Tech, WVIT, WVU Beckley, or West Virginia Tech) is a public college in Beckley, West Virginia. It is a divisional campus of West Virginia University. History The college was founded in 189 ...

(1924–2006) bar:16 color:Full from:1924 till:1951 text: West Virginia Wesleyan (1924–1986; 1988–2013) bar:16 color:FullxF from:1951 till:1953 bar:16 color:Full from:1953 till:1985 bar:16 color:FullxF from:1985 till:1986 bar:16 color:OtherC1 from:1986 till:1988 bar:16 color:FullxF from:1988 till:1991 bar:16 color:Full from:1991 till:2013 bar:17 color:Full from:1929 till:1933 text:

Morehead State Morehead State University (MSU) is a public university in Morehead, Kentucky, United States. The university began as Morehead Normal School, which opened its doors in 1887. The Craft Academy for Excellence in Science and Mathematics, a two-yea ...

(1929–1933) bar:18 color:FullxF from:1932 till:2013 text: Alderson–Broaddus (1932–2013) bar:19 color:FullxF from:1946 till:1977 text:

(1946–1977) bar:20 color:Full from:1955 till:1981 text: Bluefield State (1955–2013) bar:20 color:FullxF from:1981 till:2013 bar:21 color:Full from:1955 till:1962 text:

West Virginia State West Virginia State University (WVSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, land-grant university in Institute, West Virginia, United States. Founded in 1891 as the West Virginia Color ...

(1955–2013) bar:21 color:Full from:1962 till:1963 bar:21 color:Full from:1963 till:2013 bar:22 color:FullxF from:1957 till:2013 text:

Wheeling Jesuit Wheeling University (WU, formerly Wheeling Jesuit University) is a private Catholic university in Wheeling, West Virginia, United States. It was founded as "Wheeling College" in 1954 by the Society of Jesus (also known as the Jesuits) and was a ...

(1957–2013) bar:23 color:FullxF from:1999 till:2013 text:

Ohio Valley The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its mouth on the Mississippi River in Cairo, ...

(1999–2013) bar:24 shift:(-90) color:FullxF from:2006 till:2013 text: Pittsburgh–Johnstown (2006–2013) bar:25 shift:(-90) color:Full from:2006 till:2013 text: Seton Hill (2006–2013) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1925

References

{{Reflist Sports organizations established in 1924 Sports leagues disestablished in 2013 1924 establishments in West Virginia 2013 disestablishments in West Virginia College sports in Pennsylvania College sports in West Virginia Mountain East Conference