Atlantic East Conference

Association	NCAA
Founded	2018
Commissioner	Jessica Huntley (since July 2018)
Sports fielded	20
Division	Division III
No. of teams	7
Headquarters	Lancaster, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Region	Mid-Atlantic
Official website	atlanticeast.com
Locations

The Atlantic East Conference is an NCAA Division III collegiate athletic conference in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.^[1]

History

Atlantic East Conference

🌍

Location of AEC members: full and affiliate.

Beginning play in July 2018, the league consists of seven private universities, each former members of either the Capital Athletic Conference, since renamed the Coast to Coast Athletic Conference (C2C), or the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC).^[2] The charter members consisted of Cabrini University, Gwynedd Mercy University, Immaculata University, Marymount University, Marywood University, Neumann University and Wesley College.

On May 31, 2018, Jessica Huntley was named the inaugural commissioner of the Atlantic East.^[3]

On September 16, 2019, the AEC announced its first affiliate member, St. Mary's College of Maryland, who would participate in field hockey starting in the 2020–21 season.^[4] This will ultimately be St. Mary's only season in AEC field hockey, as that school will join the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC), which sponsors that sport, for 2021–22 and beyond.^[5] The United East Conference (formerly NEAC), reversed their decision to add field hockey, thus St. Mary's remained as an affiliate in the sport.

On November 19, 2019, it was announced that William Paterson University will become an affiliate member in men's golf starting in the 2019–20 season.^[6]

On January 12, 2020, it was announce that Cedar Crest College would join the AEC as an affiliate member in women's swimming & diving.^[7]

On August 17, 2020 and August 19, 2020, it was announced that Gallaudet University and St. Mary's College of Maryland, respectively, would also become an affiliate member in men's and women's swimming and diving.^[8][9]

On July 9, 2020, Delaware State University announced that it would acquire Wesley College starting in the 2021–22 school year, due to the financial struggles Wesley faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[10]

On June 18, 2021, Centenary University announced its move to Atlantic East from the CSAC also in 2021–22.^[11] Centenary is the conference's first non-Catholic member institution.

On June 29, 2021, New Jersey City University announced that it would be joining the Atlantic East as an affiliate member in men's and women's golf starting in the 2021–22 season.^[12]

Member schools

Membership timeline

Sports

The Atlantic East sponsored 20 sports at its launch—nine for men and 11 for women.

Conference sports

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	Y
Basketball	Y	Y
Cross country	Y	Y
Field hockey		Y
Golf	Y	Y
Lacrosse	Y	Y
Soccer	Y	Y
Softball		Y
Swimming & diving	Y	Y
Tennis	Y	Y
Track & field (outdoor)	Y	Y
Volleyball		Y

Men's sponsored sports by school

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross country	Golf	Lacrosse	Soccer	Swimming & diving	Tennis	Track & field (outdoor)	Total AEC sports
Cabrini	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	8
Centenary	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	6
Gwynedd Mercy	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	7
Immaculata	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Marymount	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Marywood	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Neumann	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	8
Totals	7	7	7	5+2	7	7	4+2	6	5	55+4
Gallaudet							Y			1
NJCU				Y						1
St. Mary's							Y			1
William Paterson				Y						1
Future Members
Pratt	N	Y	Y	N	N	Y	N	Y	Y	5

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Atlantic East Conference that are played by Atlantic East schools

School	Equestiran	Ice hockey	Rugby	Track & field (indoor)	Volleyball	Wrestling
Centenary	IHSA[upper-alpha 1]	N	N	N	N	Independent
Gwynedd Mercy	N	N	N	ECAC	N	N
Immaculata	N	N	N	N	CVC	N
Marymount	N	N	N	N	CVC	N
Marywood	N	N	MARC	ECAC	N	N
Neumann	N	UCHC	N	ECAC	CVC	N
Pratt	IHSA[lower-alpha 1]	N	N	ECAC	UEC	N

1. ↑ Centenary's equestrian program is not sponsored by the NCAA but through the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association.

Women's sponsored sports by school

School	Basketball	Cross country	Field hockey	Golf	Lacrosse	Soccer	Softball	Swimming & diving	Tennis	Track & field (outdoor)	Volleyball	Total AEC sports
Cabrini	Y	Y	Y	Y[lower-alpha 2]	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	10
Centenary	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	6
Gwynedd Mercy	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	9
Immaculata	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Marymount	Y	Y	N	Y[lower-alpha 2]	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Marywood	Y	Y	Y	Y[lower-alpha 3]	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
Neumann	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N[lower-alpha 4]	Y	Y	Y	10
Totals	7	7	5+2	4+1	7	7	7	4+3	6	5	7	66+6
Cedar Crest								Y				1
Gallaudet								Y				1
Manhattanville			Y									1
NJCU				Y								1
St. Mary's			Y					Y				2
Future Members
Pratt	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	6

Notes

1. ↑ Pratt's equestrian program is governed by the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association.
2. 1 2 Cabrini University and Marymount University are also affiliate members of the Centennial Conference in women's golf.
3. ↑ Marywood University is also an affiliate member of the Landmark Conference in women's golf.
4. ↑ Neumann University announced the addition of women's swimming for the 2015-16 season but has yet to have its inaugural season.

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Atlantic East Conference that are played by Atlantic East schools

School	Equestrian[lower-alpha 1]	Rowing	Rugby[lower-alpha 2]	Track & field (indoor)
Cabrini	N	MARC	N	N
Centenary	IHSA[lower-alpha 3]	N	N	N
Gwynedd Mercy	N	N	N	ECAC
Marywood	N	N	MARC	ECAC
Neumann	N	N	N	ECAC
Pratt	IHSA[lower-alpha 4]	N	N	ECAC

1. ↑ Although equestrianism in NCAA Divisions I and II is included in the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program, D-III equestrian is still outside that program.
2. ↑ Women's rugby in all NCAA divisions is part of the Emerging Sports for Women program.
3. ↑ Centenary's equestrian program is governed by the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association.
4. ↑ Pratt's equestrian program is governed by the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association.

References

External links

• Official website