Earlham will join the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference beginning in 2010-11, following a 20-year affiliation with the North Coast Athletic Conference.

“We are very pleased to have Earlham College join the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference as our 10th member beginning in the fall of 2010, as they have a rich tradition of strong academic and intercollegiate athletic programs,” said Christopher Ragsdale, HCAC commissioner. “Many of our conference members have already been competing in non-league contests with Earlham College. They are centrally located to our other conference schools which make them a natural fit.”

The addition of Earlham, located in Richmond, Indiana, marks the first change in membership for the HCAC since Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology joined the league in 2006. HCAC members are located in Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.

Earlham joins Anderson (Indiana), Bluffton, Defiance, Franklin, Hanover, Manchester, Mount St. Joseph, Rose-Hulman Institute and Transylvania in the league. The North Coast Athletic Conference will include nine schools in Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania following the move.

“I am extremely excited that Earlham has been invited to join the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference,” said Earlham President Douglas C. Bennett. “In joining the Heartland, we are rejoining a number of colleges and universities that have been institutions with which Earlham has competed for many decades. We are delighted to now be in a conference with them.”

The HCAC currently sponsors 16 championships in men’s and women’s athletics. Beginning in the 2010-11 academic year, Earlham will be competing in 13 of 16 sports in the HCAC, excluding men’s and women’s golf and softball.  

“Games against HCAC members permeate throughout Earlham’s athletic history, with rivalries that began years before formal conference affiliations,” said Frank Carr, Earlham athletics director. ”We believe that renewing this relationship will be a winning situation for all involved.”

“When it comes to intercollegiate athletics,” Ragsdale said, “Earlham College shares a similar vision with current HCAC members who value the intercollegiate experience as an integral part of the overall educational experience for their student-athletes.”