Great Plains Athletic Conference Explained

Great Plains Athletic Conference
Color:	670000
Font Color:	white
Founded:	1969
Association:	NAIA
Teams:	12
Sports:	21
Mens:	11
Womens:	10
Region:	Midwestern United States
Formerly:	Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (1969–1992) Nebraska-Iowa Athletic Conference (1992–2000)
Headquarters:	Sioux City, Iowa
Commissioner:	Corey Westra
Since:	2003
Map:	GPAC-USA-states.PNG
Map Size:	250

The Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member institutions are located in Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The conference was founded in 1969 as the Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NIAC), later becoming the Nebraska–Iowa Athletic Conference (1992) before being renamed the Great Plains Athletic Conference (2000).

History

The Great Plains Athletic Conference was founded on September 22, 1969, as the Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NIAC).^[1] The first president of the conference was Art Nicolia (NWU) while Glen Hinkle (Doane) was the vice president and Roger Olsen (Dana) was the secretary/treasure. Jack Anderson (NWU) was named the first publicist on February 28, 1970.^[2] The six charter members were Concordia University, Dana College, Doane University, Hastings College, Midland University, and Nebraska Wesleyan University.^[3] With the addition of Northwestern College in 1992, the NIAC was renamed the Nebraska–Iowa Athletic Conference. The NIAC became the Great Plains Athletic Conference in 2000 with the addition of Dakota Wesleyan University, Dordt University, Mount Marty University, and the University of Sioux Falls. Later, Briar Cliff University and Morningside University joined the GPAC in 2002 and 2003 respectively. The College of Saint Mary, a women's only institution, joined in 2015. In 2018, University of Jamestown joined the conference as a full-member, while Presentation College joined the conference as an associate member. All former members of the NIAC remain affiliated with the GPAC except for Dana College, which closed in 2010, the University of Sioux Falls, which left the conference in 2011, and Nebraska Wesleyan University, which left the conference in 2016. Paul Clark was the commissioner of the GPAC when it formed in 2000. Corey Westra in Sioux City, Iowa, is the current commissioner of the league.^[4]

On January 17, 2023, Presentation will end its affiliate status with the GPAC as it announced that it will close, effective that spring.^[5]

Chronological timeline

1969 – On September 22, 1969, the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) was founded as the Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NIAC). Charter members included Concordia Teachers College (now Concordia University of Nebraska), Dana College, Doane College (now Doane University), Hastings College, Midland Lutheran College (now Midland University) and Nebraska Wesleyan University, beginning the 1969–70 academic year.
1992 – Northwestern College of Iowa joined the NIAC. Therefore, the NIAC has been rebranded as the Nebraska-Iowa Athletic Conference (NIAC), beginning the 1992–93 academic year.
2000 – Dakota Wesleyan University, Dordt College (now Dordt University), Mount Marty College (now Mount Marty University) and the University of Sioux Falls joined the NIAC. Therefore, the NIAC has been rebranded as the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC), beginning the 2000–01 academic year.
2002 – Briar Cliff College (now Briar Cliff University) joined the GPAC in the 2002–03 academic year.
2003 – Morningside College (now Morningside University) joined the GPAC in the 2003–04 academic year.
2010 – Dana left the GPAC as the school announced that it would close after the 2009–10 academic year.
2011 – Sioux Falls left the GPAC and the NAIA for the Division II ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as an NCAA D-II Independent (which would later join the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC), beginning the 2012–13 academic year) after the 2010–11 academic year.
2015 – The College of Saint Mary joined the GPAC in the 2015–16 academic year.
2016 – Nebraska Wesleyan left the GPAC and the NAIA to fully align in the NCAA Division III ranks (during that time, they held dual membership with both the NAIA and the NCAA), primarily competing as a member of the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC; now known as the American Rivers Conference) after the 2015–16 academic year.
2018 – The University of Jamestown joined the GPAC effective in the 2018–19 academic year.
2018 – Presentation College joined the GPAC as an affiliate member for men's and women's soccer in the 2018 fall season (2018–19 academic year).
2020 – Central Christian College of Kansas and Ottawa University joined the GPAC as affiliate members for men's volleyball in the 2021 fall season (2020–21 academic year).
2021 – Kansas Wesleyan University joined the GPAC as an affiliate member for men's volleyball in the 2022 fall season (2021–22 academic year).
2023 - Presentation left the GPAC as an affiliate member for men's and women's soccer as the school announced that it would close after the 2022-23 academic year.
2023 - Waldorf University joined the GPAC as an affiliate member in both men's and women's soccer effective the 2023-24 academic year.
2024 - Waldorf joined the GPAC as a full member in the 2024-25 academic year.
2024 - Jamestown was removed from the GPAC after the 2023–24 academic year due to their pursuit of a move to NCAA Division II. Jamestown subsequently rejoined the North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) (which they were members prior to joining the GPAC) for the 2024–25 academic year.

Member schools

Current members

The GPAC currently has 12 full members, all are private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined
Briar Cliff University	Sioux City, Iowa	1930	Catholic	1,150	Chargers	2002
Concordia University, Nebraska	Seward, Nebraska	1894	Lutheran LCMS	2,200	Bulldogs	1969
nowrap	Dakota Wesleyan University	Mitchell, South Dakota	1885	United Methodist	895	Tigers	2000
Doane University	Crete, Nebraska	1872	United Church of Christ	1,000	Tigers	1969
Dordt University	Sioux Center, Iowa	1955	Christian Reformed	1,454	Defenders	2000
Hastings College	Hastings, Nebraska	1882	Presbyterian	1,150	Broncos	1969
Midland University	Fremont, Nebraska	1883	Lutheran ELCA	1,394	Warriors	1969
Morningside University	Sioux City, Iowa	1894	United Methodist	2,824	Mustangs	2003
Mount Marty University	Yankton, South Dakota	1936	Catholic	1,100	Lancers	2000
Northwestern College	Orange City, Iowa	1882	Reformed	1,099	Red Raiders	1992
	Omaha, Nebraska	1923	Catholic	1,070	Flames	2015
Waldorf University	Forest City, Iowa	1903	For-profit	720	Warriors	2024

Notes:

Associate members

The GPAC currently has three associate members, all are private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	GPAC sport	Primary conference
Central Christian College of Kansas	McPherson, Kansas	1884	Free Methodist	1,013	Tigers	2020	men's volleyball	Sooner (SAC)
Kansas Wesleyan University	Salina, Kansas	1886	United Methodist	1,000	Coyotes	2021	men's volleyball	Kansas (KCAC)
Ottawa University^[6]	Ottawa, Kansas	1865	Baptist	726	Braves	2020	men's volleyball	Kansas (KCAC)

Notes:

Former members

The GPAC had four former full members, all were private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Left	Subsequent conference	Current conference
Dana College	Blair, Nebraska	1884	Lutheran ELCA	N/A	Vikings	1969	2010	Closed in 2010
Nebraska Wesleyan University	Lincoln, Nebraska	1887	United Methodist	1,600	Prairie Wolves	1969	2016	American Rivers (ARC) (2016–present)
	Jamestown, North Dakota	1883	Presbyterian	1,000	Jimmies	2018	2024	North Star (NSAA) (2024–25)
	Sioux Falls, South Dakota	1883	Baptist	1,628	Cougars	2000	2011	NAIA/D-II Independent (2011–12)	Northern Sun (NSIC) (2012–present)

Notes:

Former affiliate members

The GPAC has two former affiliate members, both of which were private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Nickname	Joined	Left	GPAC sport	Current primary conference	Conference in former NSAA sport
Presentation College	Aberdeen, South Dakota	1922	Catholic	Saints	2018	2023	men's soccer women's soccer	Closed in 2023
Waldorf University	Forest City, Iowa	1903	For-profit	Warriors	2023	2024	men's soccer women's soccer	Great Plains (GPAC) (2024–present)

Notes:

Membership timeline

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Colors = id:line value:black id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.7,0.9,0.8) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.9,0.8,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.9,0.7,0.8) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.8,0.9,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for another sport only id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference when the other color has already been used

PlotData = width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s

bar:1 color:Full from:1969 till:end text:Concordia–Nebraska (1969–present)

bar:2 color:Full from:1969 till:2010 text:Dana (1969–2010)

bar:3 color:Full from:1969 till:end text:Doane (1969–present)

bar:4 color:Full from:1969 till:end text:Hastings (1969–present)

bar:5 color:Full from:1969 till:end text:Midland (1969–present)

bar:6 color:Full from:1969 till:1982 text:Nebraska Wesleyan (1969–2016) bar:6 color:Full from:1982 till:2016 text:GPAC (with NCAA D-III Ind. status) bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:2016 till:end text:American Rivers

bar:7 color:Full from:1992 till:end text:Northwestern (Ia.) (1992–present)

bar:8 color:Full from:2000 till:end text:Dakota Wesleyan (2000–present)

bar:9 color:FullxF from:2000 till:2008 text:Dordt (2000–present) bar:9 color:Full from:2008 till:end

bar:10 color:FullxF from:2000 till:2022 text:Mount Marty (2000–present) bar:10 color:Full from:2022 till:end

bar:11 color:Full from:2000 till:2011 text:Sioux Falls (2000–2011) bar:11 shift:(-20) color:OtherC1 from:2011 till:2012 text:D-II Ind. bar:11 color:OtherC2 from:2012 till:end text:Northern Sun

bar:12 color:FullxF from:2002 till:2003 text:Briar Cliff (2002–present) bar:12 color:Full from:2003 till:end

bar:13 color:Full from:2003 till:end text:Morningside (2003–present)

bar:14 shift:(-20) color:FullxF from:2015 till:end text:Saint Mary (Neb.) (2015–present)

bar:15 shift:(-50) color:Full from:2018 till:2024 text:Jamestown (2018–2024) bar:15 shift:(-15) color:OtherC1 from:2024 till:2025 text:NSAA bar:15 color:OtherC2 from:2025 till:end text:Northern Sun

bar:16 shift:(-40) color:AssocOS from:2018 till:2023 text:Presentation (2018–2023)

bar:17 shift:(-90) color:AssocOS from:2020 till:end text:Central Christian (2020–present)

bar:18 shift:(-50) color:AssocOS from:2020 till:end text:Ottawa (2020–present)

bar:19 shift:(-110) color:AssocOS from:2021 till:end text:Kansas Wesleyan (2021–present)

bar:20 shift:(-95) color:AssocOS from:2023 till:2024 text:Waldorf (2023–present) bar:20 color:Full from:2024 till:end

bar:N color:red from:1969 till:1992 text:Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference bar:N color:white from:1992 till:2000 text:Nebraska-Iowa bar:N color:red from:2000 till:end text:Great Plains Athletic Conference

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1970

TextData = fontsize:M textcolor:black pos:(0,25) tabs:(400-center) text:^"Great Plains Athletic Conference membership history"

> If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following three options (use only the colors that are used in the graphic.) Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space.

Notes and References

Web site: 23 Sep 1969, Page 13 – The Lincoln Star at . Newspapers.com . September 23, 1969 . June 5, 2022.
Web site: 1 Mar 1970, Page 22 – The Lincoln Star at . Newspapers.com . March 1, 1970 . June 5, 2022.
http://www.gpacsports.com/f/About_the_Great_Plains_Athletic_Conference.php History of the GPAC
http://www.gpacsports.com/f/GPAC_Commissioner_Corey_Westra.php About Commissioner Corey Westra
News: Sand . Elisa . Presentation College closing Aberdeen campus . 18 January 2023 . Aberdeen News . January 17, 2023.
https://www.naia.org/sports/mvball/2019-20/releases/GPAC_Announces_Men GPAC Announces Men's Volleyball as Conference Sport Ottawa to Join GPAC as an Affiliate Member