INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) announced on Wednesday that William Jewell College has been admitted to the Conference bringing the league’s membership to 16 institutions. The addition of William Jewell was unanimously approved by the GLVC Council of Presidents at the Oct. 6 meeting. William Jewell will officially become a GLVC member upon receipt of initiation fees entitling the institution to voting privileges at the GLVC Winter Meeting on Jan. 15, 2010.
The College will begin regular season competition and will be eligible for select GLVC championships during the 2011-12 academic year. William Jewell will be eligible for postseason competition in the majority of GLVC sports in 2012-13. The delay in postseason eligibility coincides with the institution’s eligibility for NCAA Division II championships as William Jewell is completing reclassification to Division II. William Jewell is currently affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and is in its first candidacy year in Division II.
William Jewell is located in Liberty, Mo., and along with Rockhurst University, will be one of two GLVC institutions in the Kansas City area. The liberal arts college, with an enrollment of 1,100 students, was established in 1849 and is located within the Kansas City metroplex of more than two million.
The College sponsors 18 sports, including all seven of the ‘core’ sports (men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, baseball and softball) currently sponsored by the GLVC. The Cardinals also sponsor men’s and women’s track and field, men’s and women’s cross country, football, men’s and women’s tennis and men’s and women’s golf. William Jewell was a charter member of the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) and has been competing in the NAIA conference since 1971. The Cardinals have captured 96 conference titles in the HAAC and were the first NAIA program to claim 500 football victories.
The GLVC was established in 1978 and is one of the largest NCAA Division II conferences in the country. With the addition of William Jewell, the GLVC will include 16 institutions from five Midwestern states. The current members of the GLVC are: Bellarmine University (Louisville, Ky.), Drury University (Springfield, Mo.), Kentucky Wesleyan College (Owensboro, Ky.), Lewis University (Romeoville, Ill.), Maryville University (St. Louis, Mo.), Missouri University of Science & Technology (Rolla, Mo.), Northern Kentucky University (Highland Heights, Ky.), Quincy University (Quincy, Ill.), Rockhurst University (Kansas City, Mo.), Saint Joseph’s College (Rensselaer, Ind.), University of Illinois at Springfield (Springfield, Mo.), University of Indianapolis (Indianapolis, Ind.), University of Missouri-St. Louis (St. Louis, Mo.), University of Southern Indiana (Evansville, Ind.) and University of Wisconsin-Parkside (Kenosha, Wis.).
The GLVC last expanded in 2008 with the addition of Maryville and Illinois-Springfield. The addition of William Jewell will mark the first time in its history the GLVC has had 16 members.
