| Atlantic East Conference | |
| Founded: | 2018 |
| Association: | NCAA |
| Division: | Division III |
| Teams: | 7 |
| Sports: | 20 |
| Region: | Mid-Atlantic |
| Headquarters: | Lancaster, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Commissioner: | Jessica Huntley |
| Since: | July 2018 |
| Website: | atlanticeast.com |
| Map: | File:AE-USA-states.png |
| Map Size: | 250 |
| Color: |
|
| Font Color: |
|
The Atlantic East Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III and is located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.[1]
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]
The AEC currently has seven full members, all are private schools:
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centenary University | Hackettstown, New Jersey | 1867 | United Methodist | 1,597 | Cyclones | 2021 | |
| Gwynedd Mercy University | Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania | 1948 | Catholic | 2,017 | Griffins | 2018 | |
| Immaculata University | Immaculata, Pennsylvania | 1940 | Catholic | 1,043 | Mighty Macs | 2018 | |
| Marymount University | Arlington, Virginia | 1950 | Catholic | 3,684 | Saints | 2018 | |
| Marywood University | Scranton, Pennsylvania | 1915 | Catholic | 2,470 | Pacers | 2018 | |
| Neumann University | Aston, Pennsylvania | 1965 | Catholic | 3,000 | Knights | 2018 | |
| Pratt Institute | Brooklyn, New York | 1887 | Nonsectarian | 4,907 | Cannoneers | 2024 |
The AEC currently has seven associate members; three of them are public schools:
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Primary conference | AEC sport(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cedar Crest College | Allentown, Pennsylvania | 1867 | United Church of Christ | 1,885 | Falcons | 2020 | UEC | women's swimming | |
| Gallaudet University | Washington, D.C. | 1864 | Private (Non-sectarian/Quasi-governmental) | 1,740 | Bison | 2020; 2020 | UEC | men's swimming; women's swimming | |
| Manhattanville University | Purchase, New York | 1841 | Catholic | 2,494 | Valiants | 2022 | Skyline | field hockey | |
| New Jersey City University | Jersey City, New Jersey | 1929 | Public | 7,300 | Gothic Knights | 2021; 2021 | NJAC | men's golf; women's golf | |
| St. Mary's City, Maryland | 1840 | Public | 1,950 | Seahawks | 2020; 2020; 2020 | UEC | men's swimming; women's swimming field hockey | ||
| William Paterson University | Wayne, New Jersey | 1855 | Public | 10,970 | Pioneers | 2019 | NJAC | men's golf | |
| Eastern University | St. Davids, Pennsylvania | 1925 | Baptist (ABC USA) | 4,429 | Eagles | 2024 | MAC Commonwealth | women's flag football |
The Atlantic East had one former full member, which was also a private school:
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Left | Current conference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wesley College | Dover, Delaware | 1873 | United Methodist | 2,400 | Wolverines | 2018 | 2021 | N/A | |
| Cabrini University | Radnor, Pennsylvania | 1957 | Catholic | 1,759 | Cavaliers | 2018 | 2024 | N/A |
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:2018 till:2028
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#
Colors =
id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.5,0.691,0.824) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all (consider identifying in legend or a footnote) id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two
PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:FullxF from:2018 till:2024 text:Cabrini (2018–24)
bar:2 color:FullxF from:2018 till:end text:Gwynedd Mercy (2018–present)
bar:3 color:FullxF from:2018 till:end text:Immaculata (2018–present)
bar:4 color:FullxF from:2018 till:end text:Marymount (2018–present)
bar:5 color:FullxF from:2018 till:end text:Marywood (2018–present)
bar:6 color:FullxF from:2018 till:end text:Neumann (2018–present)
bar:7 color:FullxF from:2018 till:2021 text:Wesley (2018–2021)
bar:8 color:AssocOS from:2019 till:end text:William Paterson (M Golf, 2019–present)
bar:9 color:AssocOS from:2020 till:end text:Cedar Crest (W Swim, 2020–present)
bar:10 color:AssocOS from:2020 till:end text:Galluadet (M&W Swim, 2020–present)
bar:11 color:AssocOS from:2020 till:end text:St. Mary's (MD) (FH, M&W Swim, 2020–present)
bar:12 color:FullxF from:2021 till:end text:Centenary (NJ) (2021–present)
bar:13 color:AssocOS from:2021 till:end text:NJCU (M&W Golf, 2021–present)
bar:14 color:AssocOS from:2022 till:end text:Manhattanville (Field Hockey, 2022–present)
bar:15 color:FullxF from:2024 till:end text:Pratt (2024–future)
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:2018
The Atlantic East sponsored 20 sports at its launch—nine for men and 11 for women.
| School | Baseball | Basketball | Cross country | Golf | Lacrosse | Soccer | Swimming & diving | Tennis | Track & field (outdoor) | Total AEC sports | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cabrini | 8 | ||||||||||
| Centenary | 6 | ||||||||||
| Gwynedd Mercy | 7 | ||||||||||
| Immaculata | 8 | ||||||||||
| Marymount | 9 | ||||||||||
| Marywood | 9 | ||||||||||
| Neumann | 8 | ||||||||||
| Totals | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5+2 | 7 | 7 | 4+2 | 6 | 5 | 55+4 | |
| Gallaudet | 1 | ||||||||||
| NJCU | 1 | ||||||||||
| St. Mary's | 1 | ||||||||||
| William Paterson | 1 | ||||||||||
| Future Members | |||||||||||
| Pratt | 5 | ||||||||||
| School | Equestiran | Ice hockey | Rugby | Track & field (indoor) | Volleyball | Wrestling | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centenary | IHSA | Independent | |||||
| Gwynedd Mercy | ECAC | ||||||
| Immaculata | CVC | ||||||
| Marymount | CVC | ||||||
| Marywood | MARC | ECAC | |||||
| Neumann | UCHC | ECAC | CVC | ||||
| Pratt | IHSA | ECAC | UEC |
| School | Basketball | Cross country | Field hockey | Golf | Lacrosse | Soccer | Softball | Swimming & diving | Tennis | Track & field (outdoor) | Volleyball | Total AEC sports | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cabrini | 10 | ||||||||||||
| Centenary | 6 | ||||||||||||
| Gwynedd Mercy | 9 | ||||||||||||
| Immaculata | 10 | ||||||||||||
| Marymount | 10 | ||||||||||||
| Marywood | 11 | ||||||||||||
| Neumann | 10 | ||||||||||||
| Totals | 7 | 7 | 5+2 | 4+1 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 4+3 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 66+6 | |
| Cedar Crest | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Gallaudet | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Manhattanville | 1 | ||||||||||||
| NJCU | 1 | ||||||||||||
| St. Mary's | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Future Members | |||||||||||||
| Pratt | 6 | ||||||||||||
| School | Equestrian | Rowing | Rugby | Track & field (indoor) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cabrini | MARC | ||||
| Centenary | IHSA | ||||
| Gwynedd Mercy | ECAC | ||||
| Marywood | MARC | ECAC | |||
| Neumann | ECAC | ||||
| Pratt | IHSA | ECAC |