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BETHANY — Southern Nazarene University announced its intent on applying for membership in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II, Monday afternoon, as student-athletes and coaches filled the Sawyer Center's Storm Room. The university has had several meetings with NCAA consultants and began researching the possible jump nearly a year ago, but official word was not given on the process until today.
“After more than a year of considering options for the future of SNU athletics, the administration has decided to make application for membership in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II,” said Southern Nazarene University President Dr. Loren Gresham. “The process of arriving at this point has been slow, deliberative, and with considerable discussion among campus, governing board, and alumni constituents.
“We have debated the future direction of our athletics programs with conflicted feelings due to our longtime membership in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, and in the Sooner Athletic Conference. The NAIA, its leadership, philosophy, and culture have been a great place for us for over 40 years. As members of the Texoma Conference, out of which the Sooner Athletic Conference developed, we have enjoyed friendly rivalries and warm relationships with their respective personnel and institutions.”
SNU plans to turn in the application by the June 1, 2011 deadline and should receive word on acceptance near or after July 1, 2011. If accepted into the NCAA Division II membership process, Southern Nazarene will enter the first year of candidacy and will still continue to compete in the NAIA for the 2011-12 athletic season. If SNU proceeds to the second year of candidacy, it will then enter a ban on both postseason play at the NAIA and NCAA levels for the 2012-13 athletic season. There is also a third year of the membership process, the provisional year which runs for the 2013-14 athletic season.
“Difficulties over the last decade in finding a suitable affiliation which would accommodate our football program, along with other emerging sports, has been one of the factors leading to our consideration of other options,” said Gresham. “We are currently being assisted in our planning by experienced consultants who are former NCAA DII athletics directors. Our Strategic Plan and Feasibility Study required for application are underway, and it is our intention to submit all documents with our formal application. And while we are somewhat conflicted on the thought of leaving friends and associates in the NAIA and in the Sooner Athletic Conference, we are excited about this new direction should our application be accepted next summer.”
Currently there are three conferences in the regional area that Southern Nazarene could seek a possible membership. Two of those conferences have football. They are the Lone Star Conference and the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. The third, the Heartland, does not offer football as an official sport. In addition to theses, there is the expectation of a new conference to form between institutions from Oklahoma and Arkansas.
“There are many details to work out as far as conference affiliation and other matters, but the purpose of this announcement was to let our campus community, student athletes, and our colleague institutions know of our intentions regarding athletics affiliation,” said Gresham.
Founded in 1910, the NCAA is the governing body for more than 1,200 schools with more than 400,000 student-athletes. In 1973, the membership divided among three divisions. Currently there are 288 Division II members.
