Oglethorpe Among Eight Colleges Tapped to Form New Athletic Conference

Oglethorpe University has joined seven other univiersities across six states to form a new athletic conference beginning with the 2012-13 season, Oglethorpe officials announced today.

The new conference will include Birmingham-Southern College in Alabama, Centre College in Kentucky, Hendrix College in Arkansas, Millsaps College in Mississippi, Oglethorpe University in Georgia, and Rhodes College and Sewanee: The University of the South in Tennessee. Joining them to create the new eight-member conference will be Berry College in Rome, Ga., said a prepared statement release by the university athletic department.

The new conference is being formed to foster athletic competition and cooperation among academically selective, residential liberal arts colleges located in the southeastern region of the United States. The geographic focus will result in reduced travel time and costs, while still allowing for a strong conference of like-minded institutions, all of which integrate competitive athletics into the whole of the student’s educational experience."

Jay Gardiner, who currently serves as athletics director at Oglethorpe, will serve as the new conference’s interim commissioner. Oglethorpe president Lawrence Schall, who currently chairs the SCAC executive committee, will serve as convener of the conference’s Presidential Council during the 2011-12 academic year. Brian Chafin, athletics director at Centre, will serve as convener of the Athletics Director Council in 2011-12.

Information was contributed by the Oglethorpe University Athletic Department