St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Explained

St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Founded:	1989
Association:	NCAA
Division:	Division III
Teams:	10 (9 in 2025)
Sports:	14
Mens:	7
Womens:	7
Region:	Midwest and South
Headquarters:	St. Louis, Missouri
Commissioner:	Dr. Dick Kaiser
Website:	sliac.org
Map:	SLIAC-USA-states.png
Map Size:	250
Color:	14398a;
Font Color:	FFFFFF

The St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III which is located in the Midwestern and Southern United States. There are 10 full member institutions as of the 2023–24 academic year.

History

Chronological timeline

Source:^[1]

September 1989: The SLIAC chartered with Blackburn, Fontbonne, Maryville, Parks, Principia, and Webster the original members.
September 1990: The SLIAC's first year gets underway. MacMurray and Westminster join the charter members.
February 1991: The first SLIAC men's basketball tournament is held.
February 1995: Westminster wins the men's basketball tournament title to earn the SLIAC's first automatic bid to an NCAA Division III national championship event.
September 1995: Greenville begins its first year as a member of the conference, bringing SLIAC membership to nine schools.
March 1996: MacMurray wins the women's basketball tournament title to earn the conference's first automatic bid to an NCAA Division III women's national championship event.
April 1996: Parks competes in its final conference event. Parks closed after the 1995-96 year and its academic programs were moved to the Saint Louis University campus.
November 1996: Blackburn, MacMurray, and Westminster share the first-ever SLIAC football title.
September 1999: The SLIAC begins its tenth year of operation.
November 1999: The fourth and final (until 2008) conference football title is awarded (six teams needed for conference to sponsor a sport).
September 2006: Eureka and Lincoln Christian begin play as the ninth and tenth members of the conference.
March 2007: Huntingdon and LaGrange admitted to the SLIAC as affiliate members in the sport of football. The SLIAC announces football will return in the fall of 2008 after a nine-year hiatus.
May 2007: William Wolper hired as the Conference's first full-time Commissioner (officially started in July).
November 2007: With the completion of the fall season, Lincoln Christian departs the SLIAC.
September 2008: Football begins play as the 13th conference sport after a nine-year hiatus.
September 2008: Spalding University admitted to the SLIAC to begin play during the 2009–10 academic year.
April 2009: The SLIAC announced it would cease its sponsorship of football; five football-playing schools join the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) as associate members for the sport. Huntingdon and LaGrange end football affiliation with the conference.^[2]
June 2010: University of Dallas admitted to the SLIAC as an affiliate member in the sports of men's golf, men's and women's cross country.
September 2010: University of Dallas is accepted as a full member into the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) and drops its affiliate membership with the SLIAC after the spring men's golf season.
December 2011: Iowa Wesleyan College admitted to the SLIAC as a full member to begin play during the 2013–14 academic year.
March 2020: MacMurray College announced it would close in May 2020 due to financial struggles.
June 2020: Iowa Wesleyan announced that it would leave the NCAA and return to the NAIA after the 2020–21 academic year.^[3]
June 2021: Mississippi University for Women admitted to the SLIAC as a full member beginning the 2023–24 academic year.^[4]
August 2022: Lyon College admitted to the SLIAC as a full member beginning the 2023–24 academic year.^[5]
March 2024: Fontbonne University announced its closure in 2025.

Member schools

Current members

The SLIAC currently has ten full members; nine are private schools and one is public:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Varsity teams	Joined
Blackburn College	Carlinville, Illinois	1837	Presbyterian	382	Beavers	12	1989
Eureka College	Eureka, Illinois	1855	Disciples of Christ	559	Red Devils	16	2006
Fontbonne University	Clayton, Missouri	1923	Catholic	944	Griffins	10	1989
Greenville University	Greenville, Illinois	1892	Free Methodist	1,088	Panthers	14	1995
Lyon College	Batesville, Arkansas	1872	Presbyterian	496	Scots	21	2023
Mississippi University for Women	Columbus, Mississippi	1884	Public	2,339	Owls	17	2023
Principia College	Elsah, Illinois	1912	Scientist	323	Panthers	12	1989
Spalding University	Louisville, Kentucky	1814	Catholic	1,692	Golden Eagles	11	2009
Webster University	Webster Groves, Missouri	1915	Catholic	5,000	Gorloks	11	1989
Westminster College	Fulton, Missouri	1851	Presbyterian	610	Blue Jays	8	1990

Notes:

Former members

The SLIAC had five former full members, all were private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Varsity teams	Joined	Left	Current conference
Iowa Wesleyan University	Mount Pleasant, Iowa	1842	United Methodist	571	Tigers	12	2013	2021	Closed in 2023
Lincoln Christian University	Lincoln, Illinois	1944	Christian Churches and Churches of Christ	1,000	Red Lions	10	2006	2008	Closed in 2024
MacMurray College		1846	United Methodist	683	Highlanders	10	1990	2020	Closed in 2020
Maryville University	Town and Country, Missouri	1872	Catholic	2,500	Saints	14	1989	2009	Great Lakes Valley (GLVC)
Parks College	Cahokia, Illinois	1927	Catholic	N/A	Falcons	N/A	1989	1996	N/A

Notes:

Former associate members

The SLIAC had three former associate members, all were private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Left	Primary conference	SLIAC sport
University of Dallas	Irving, Texas	1956	Catholic	3,500	Crusaders	2010–11; 2010–11; 2010–11	2011–12, 2011–12; 2011–12	Southern (SCAC)	men's cross country; women's cross country; men's golf
Huntingdon College	Montgomery, Alabama	1854	United Methodist	900	Hawks	2008–09	2008–09	USA South	football
LaGrange College	LaGrange, Georgia	1831	United Methodist	1137	Panthers	2008–09	2008–09	USA South	football

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy

ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20

Period = from:1989 till:2029

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:1989 till:1996 text:Blackburn (Ill.) (1989–present) bar:1 color:Full from:1996 till:2000 bar:1 color:FullxF from:2000 till:2008 bar:1 color:Full from:2008 till:2009 bar:1 color:FullxF from:2009 till:end

bar:2 color:FullxF from:1989 till:end text:Fontbonne (1989–present)

bar:3 color:FullxF from:1989 till:2009 text:Maryville (Mo.) (1989–2009)

bar:4 color:FullxF from:1989 till:1996 text:Parks (1989–1996)

bar:5 color:FullxF from:1989 till:1996 text:Principia (1989–present) bar:5 color:Full from:1996 till:1999 bar:5 color:FullxF from:1999 till:2008 bar:5 color:Full from:2008 till:2009 bar:5 color:FullxF from:2009 till:end

bar:6 color:FullxF from:1989 till:end text:Webster (1989–present)

bar:7 color:FullxF from:1990 till:1996 text:MacMurray (1990–2020) bar:7 color:Full from:1996 till:2000 bar:7 color:FullxF from:2000 till:2008 bar:7 color:Full from:2008 till:2009 bar:7 color:FullxF from:2009 till:2020

bar:8 color:FullxF from:1990 till:1996 text:Westminster (MO) (1990–present) bar:8 color:Full from:1996 till:2000 bar:8 color:FullxF from:2000 till:2008 bar:8 color:Full from:2008 till:2009 bar:8 color:FullxF from:2009 till:end

bar:9 color:FullxF from:1995 till:1996 text:Greenville (1995–present) bar:9 color:Full from:1996 till:2000 bar:9 color:FullxF from:2000 till:2008 bar:9 color:Full from:2008 till:2009 bar:9 color:FullxF from:2009 till:end

bar:10 color:FullxF from:2006 till:2008 text:Eureka (2006–present) bar:10 color:Full from:2008 till:2009 bar:10 color:FullxF from:2009 till:end

bar:11 color:FullxF from:2006 till:2008 text:Lincoln Christian (2006–2008)

bar:12 color:AssocF from:2008 till:2009 text:Huntingdon (2008–2009)

bar:13 color:AssocF from:2008 till:2009 text:LaGrange (2008–2009)

bar:14 color:FullxF from:2009 till:end text:Spalding (2009–present)

bar:15 color:AssocOS from:2010 till:2011 text:Dallas (2010–2011)

bar:16 color:FullxF from:2013 till:2021 text:Iowa Wesleyan (2013–2021)

bar:17 color:FullxF from:2023 till:end text:MUW (2023–present)

bar:18 color:FullxF from:2023 till:end text:Lyon (2023–present)

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1989

Notes and References

Web site: Key Dates In SLIAC History. SLIAC. July 17, 2013.
News: SLIAC drops sponsorship of football. https://web.archive.org/web/20100528134136/http://www.lagrange.edu/athletics/football/news/2008/news-41609_SLIAC_release.htm. LaGrange Football. April 16, 2009. May 28, 2010. dead. November 3, 2010.
IW Tiger Athletics Update . Iowa Wesleyan Tigers . June 9, 2020 . June 16, 2020.
SLIAC Accepts MUW as Member . Saint Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference . June 17, 2021 . June 17, 2021.
Lyon Accepted to Join SLIAC . Saint Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference . August 22, 2022 . August 23, 2022.