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The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference announced Wednesday that the University of Dallas has accepted an invitation to join the league.

Dallas, currently a Division III independent, will join the SCAC at the beginning of the 2011-12 academic year.

 

Dallas sponsors 14 of the 21 SCAC sports (baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s golf, men’s and women’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s outdoor track and field, and women’s volleyball).

The institution in the Dallas suburb of Irving has been a Division III independent since leaving the American Southwest Conference after the 2000-01 academic year.

Dallas will join current SCAC members Austin College, Birmingham-Southern College, Centre College, Colorado College, Hendrix College, Millsaps College, Oglethorpe University, Rhodes College, The University of the South, Southwestern University (Texas) and Trinity University (Texas).

DePauw University, a member of the SCAC since 1998, announced in June that it would leave the conference after the completion of the 2010-11 academic year to pursue an offer of membership in the North Coast Athletic Conference.

SCAC commissioner Dwayne Hanberry said when seeking a new member, the league always seeks an institution that shares “a commitment to the overall educational experience where athletics serves as a proper compliment to academics.”

“We are confident that Dallas shares this same vision,” Hanberry said.

“The addition of the University of Dallas provides us another valuable member of the conference,” said Oglethorpe President Lawrence Schall, who currently serves as the chair of the SCAC board of directors. “It further affirms the distinctive quality of the conference and it will certainly enhance athletic competition within it.”

“It is my pleasure to have the University of Dallas associate with other Division III schools that have similar high academic standards and profiles,” said University of Dallas President Thomas Keefe. “We look forward to a mutually beneficial relationship.”

Dallas Athletics Director Dick Strockbine added, “Dallas already enjoys a scheduling relationship with several SCAC institutions in a variety of sports. We look forward to establishing those same relationships with the rest of the membership.”