Dr. Hilary L. Link, the 22nd president of Allegheny College, has announced the College’s plans to re-enter the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) as the league’s 11th full-time member, effective July 1, 2022.
“Allegheny College is excited to re-enter the Presidents’ Athletic Conference next year,” Link said. “This return aligns with all three of the strategic priorities that make up our Renaissance Vision for Allegheny College’s future. These priorities include engaging more fully with our local context, owning and articulating our unique interdisciplinary academic brand, and focusing on holistic student success — to make the best Allegheny experience the typical Allegheny experience. The PAC’s mission of promoting athletics and the pursuit of academic excellence is a great fit for Allegheny.”
The announcement marks a renaissance for the College, as it will be returning to an athletic conference where it was previously a member from 1958 through the spring of 1984. During its prior tenure in the PAC, Allegheny collected more than 45 team championships, earned the school’s first team national championship (1983 men’s golf), and had five student-athletes win NCAA Division III individual national titles.
Link noted that rejoining the PAC will offer several enhancements to the experience for student-athletes, including reduced travel time to athletic competitions.
“Moving to the PAC gives our student-athletes more local visibility and support, more time to spend on their studies and co-curricular activities, and more opportunity to achieve success in the classroom and on the field or court,” Link said. “It also connects us more closely with our local community, providing increased support for our athletic teams at away competitions by bringing our students and local community members to cheer them on, and increases school spirit by re-creating local rivalries and energy in our stands.”
Allegheny fields 23 varsity athletic teams. The College will retain its current affiliation as a full-time member of the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) until June 30, 2022. Allegheny intends to remain an affiliate member of the NCAC in the sport of field hockey after that time, as the PAC does not currently sponsor the sport. As a founding member of the NCAC, Allegheny has competed in the league since its inception in 1984.
“As commissioner of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference, it is both an honor and a distinct privilege to officially welcome Allegheny College back to the PAC as the league’s 11th full-time member,” Joe Onderko, commissioner of the PAC, said.
“Allegheny is nationally-known as one of the Top 100 liberal arts colleges in America, while the Gator athletic department boasts a history of success both on and off the playing field, from winning the 1990 NCAA Division III Football National Championship to producing a steady line of All-Americans and Academic All-Americans in a number of sports. This history of success both in the classroom as well as the athletic arena makes them a logical partner with our conference, which has strived for and boasted academic and athletic excellence since 1955.”
Over the last 15 years, the PAC has had 12,246 student-athletes recognized on the PAC Academic Honor Roll, which highlights those who maintain a 3.6 GPA or higher during the semester of their in-season competition. In addition, the league has had 123 student-athletes garner Academic All-America honors, and nearly 20 NCAA postgraduate scholarship winners.
Allegheny College boasts more than 40 Academic All-Americans, over 550 All-Americans in their sport and numerous winners of prestigious NCAA postgraduate scholarships.
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About Allegheny College
Allegheny College, founded in 1815, is one of the nation’s oldest and most innovative four-year colleges where multidisciplinary learning breaks the conventional mold. It is one of the few colleges in the United States with a unique requirement to choose both a major and minor for graduation, to provide students with a cross-disciplinary path in the sciences and humanities for educational depth and intellectual growth. Located in Meadville, Pennsylvania, Allegheny College is one of 40 colleges featured in Loren Pope’s “Colleges That Change Lives.” In its 2021 rankings, U.S. News & World Report recognized Allegheny College in its Top 20 Best in Undergraduate Teaching and Top 30 Most Innovative National Liberal Arts Colleges.
About the Presidents’ Athletic Conference
The Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC), built on the basic belief that an athletic program is an integral part of college life, but not an entity in itself, looks back on over sixty years of growth and ahead to years of continued academic and athletic excellence. The league’s name clearly reflects its founding principle that operational control of all aspects of intercollegiate athletics is ultimately the responsibility of the presidents of each member institution, and thus active presidential leadership and oversight is paramount in conference administration.
Formally organized in 1955, the PAC and its membership continue its original, defining mission of promoting intercollegiate athletics and the pursuit of academic excellence. Institutions involved understand that the key components to its progress lie in the foundation of faith in each member by each other member. It is the conviction of its membership that the PAC is the solution to the dilemma of intercollegiate athletic competition, and they have staked their athletic future on this premise. The PAC annually crowns league champions and awards all-conference honors in its 23 championship sports (12 men, 11 women).