Conference of New England explained

Conference of New England
Color:	color:white; background:#021849;
Font Color:	FFFFFF
Founded:	1984
Commissioner:	Patrick Colbert
Since:	2023
Association:	NCAA
Sports:	20
Mens:	10
Womens:	10
Division:	Division III
Teams:	11
Region:	New England
Headquarters:	Biddeford, Maine, U.S.
Website:	cnesports.org
Map:	Map of the USA with The Commonwealth Coast Conference region highlighted.png
Map Size:	300

The Conference of New England (CNE), formerly known as the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC), is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in New England in the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.

Overview

The CCC and Commonwealth Coast Football unveiled a new family of logos during a June 2019 visual rebrand.^[1]

History

Recent events

On June 21, 2022, the University of Hartford announced that it would join the CCC, starting the 2023–24 academic year;^[2] while Salve Regina announced it would leave both the CCC and CCC Football to join the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC), once concluding the 2022–23 school year.^[3]

On December 8, 2022, Johnson & Wales (RI) announced it would join the CCC as soon as the 2024–25 academic year.^[4]

In 2023, two schools announced they would be reinstating their varsity football programs and joining the CCC for football, starting the 2025 fall season (2025–26 academic year); first Maine Maritime Academy on January 9,^[5] then New England College followed suit on November 14.^[6]

On August 1st, 2024, 40 years after it was founded, the conference announced that it would be rebranding as the Conference of New England (CNE), effective with the 2024-25 season.^[7]

Chronological timeline

• 1984 – On 1984, the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) was founded. Charter members included Anna Maria College, Curry College, Emerson College, Hellenic College, Salve Regina College (now Salve Regina University), the United States Coast Guard Academy (Coast Guard) and Wentworth Institute of Technology (Wentworth Tech); beginning the 1984–85 academic year.
• 1985 – Hellenic left the CCC when the school dropped its athletic program after lasting only one season after the 1984–85 academic year.
• 1985 – Roger Williams College (now Roger Williams University) joined the CCC in the 1985–86 academic year.
• 1986 – The CCC was granted membership within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III ranks in the 1986–87 academic year.
• 1987 – The U.S. Coast Guard left the CCC to join the Constitution Athletic Conference after the 1986–87 academic year.
• 1987 – Gordon College joined the CCC in the 1987–88 academic year.
• 1988 – Regis College joined the CCC in the 1988–89 academic year.
• 1989 – Emerson left the CCC to become an NCAA D-III Independent after the 1988–89 academic year.
• 1989 – New England College of New Hampshire joined the CCC in the 1989–90 academic year.
• 1992 – Eastern Nazarene College joined the CCC in the 1992–93 academic year.
• 1995 – Colby–Sawyer College and Nichols College joined the CCC in the 1995–96 academic year.
• 1999 – Endicott College and the University of New England of Maine joined the CCC in the 1999–2000 academic year.
• 2007 – Western New England University joined the CCC in the 2007–08 academic year.
• 2011 – Four member schools left the CCC to join their respective new home primary conferences: Anna Maria to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC), Regis (Mass.) to the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC), and Colby–Sawyer and New England (N.H.) to the North Atlantic Conference (NAC), all effective after the 2010–11 academic year.
• 2016 – Becker College, Johnson and Wales University, Providence and Suffolk University joined the CCC as associate members for men's ice hockey in the 2016–17 academic year.
• 2017 – The CCC added football as a sponsored sport, although not directly as it absorbed the former and defunct New England Football Conference and rebranded as Commonwealth Coast Football (CCC Football) in the 2017 fall season (2017–18 academic year).
• 2017 – Becker added football to join CCC Football in the 2017 fall season (2017–18 academic year).
• 2018 – Eastern Nazarene left the CCC to join the NECC after the 2017–18 academic year.
• 2018 – Johnson & Wales and Suffolk left the CCC as associate members for men's ice hockey after the 2017–18 academic year.
• 2019 – Husson University joined CCC Football in the 2019 fall season (2019–20 academic year).
• 2020 – Suffolk returned to the CCC, but with full membership status in the 2020–21 academic year.
• 2022 – Due to changes in NCAA legislation regarding the number of member schools required for an automatic qualifier (AQ), football was fully incorporated into the CCC multi-sport conference, eliminating the need for the single-sport Commonwealth Coast Football league, beginning the 2022–23 academic year.
• 2023 – Salve Regina left the CCC (and CCC Football) to join the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) after the 2022–23 academic year.
• 2023 – The University of Hartford joined the CCC in the 2023–24 academic year.
• 2023 – Johnson & Wales (RI) will join the CCC as soon as the 2024–25 academic year.
• 2023 – Maine Maritime Academy and New England College will reinstate their varsity football programs and joining the CCC for football, beginning the 2025 fall season (2025–26 academic year).
• 2024 – Colby–Sawyer College and the University of Saint Joseph of Connecticut will join the CCC as associate members for men's tennis by the 2025 spring season (2024–25 academic year).
• 2024 – The CCC rebranded as the Conference of New England, effective with the 2024–25 academic year.

Member schools

Current members

The CNE currently has 11 full members, all private schools.

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Colors	Football?
Curry College	Milton, Massachusetts	1879	Nonsectarian	2,410	Colonels	1984		Yes
Endicott College	Beverly, Massachusetts	1939	Nonsectarian	4,528	Gulls	1999		Yes
Gordon College	Wenham, Massachusetts	1889	Evangelical	1,816	Fighting Scots	1987		No
University of Hartford	West Hartford, Connecticut	1877	Nonsectarian	6,792	Hawks	2023		No
Johnson & Wales University	Providence, Rhode Island	1914	Nonsectarian	4,652	Wildcats	2024		No
Nichols College	Dudley, Massachusetts	1815	Nonsectarian	1,518	Bison	1995		Yes
Roger Williams University	Bristol, Rhode Island	1956	Nonsectarian	4,702	Hawks	1985		No
Suffolk University	Boston, Massachusetts	1906	Nonsectarian	6,832	Rams	2020		No
	Biddeford, Maine	1831	Nonsectarian	7,208	Nor'easters	1999		Yes
Wentworth Institute of Technology	Boston, Massachusetts	1904	Nonsectarian	4,397	Leopards	1984		No
Western New England University	Springfield, Massachusetts	1919	Nonsectarian	3,702	Golden Bears	2007		Yes

Notes:

Associate members

The CNE currently has three associate members, all private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Primary conference	CCC sport(s)	Colors
Colby–Sawyer College	New London, New Hampshire	1946	Nonsectarian	2,262	Chargers	2024	Great Northeast (GNAC)	men's tennis
Husson University	Bangor, Maine	1898	Nonsectarian	3,476	Eagles	2019	North Atlantic (NAC)	football
	West Hartford, Connecticut	1932	Catholic	2,467	Blue Jays	2024	Great Northeast (GNAC)	men's tennis

Future associate members

The CNE will have two future associate members, all but one are private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joining	Primary conference	CCC sport(s)	Colors
Maine Maritime Academy	Castine, Maine	1941	Public	941	Mariners	2025	North Atlantic (NAC)	football
New England College	Henniker, New Hampshire	1946	Nonsectarian	4,327	Pilgrims	2025	Great Northeast (GNAC)	football

Former members

The CNE had nine former full members, with all but one being private schools.

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Left	Current conference
Anna Maria College	Paxton, Massachusetts	1946	Catholic	1,432	AMCats	1984	2011	Great Northeast (GNAC)
Colby–Sawyer College	New London, New Hampshire	1837	Nonsectarian	1,200	Chargers	1995	2011	Great Northeast (GNAC)
Eastern Nazarene College	Quincy, Massachusetts	1900	Nazarene	1,063	Lions	1992	2018	North Atlantic (NAC)
Emerson College	Boston, Massachusetts	1880	Nonsectarian	4,290	Lions	1984	1989	New England (NEWMAC)
Hellenic College	Brookline, Massachusetts	1937	GOArch	222	Owls	1984	1985	N/A
New England College	Henniker, New Hampshire	1946	Nonsectarian	1,460	Pilgrims	1989	2011	Great Northeast (GNAC)
Regis College	Weston, Massachusetts	1927	Catholic	1,737	Pride	1988	2011	Great Northeast (GNAC)
Salve Regina University	Newport, Rhode Island	1934	Catholic	2,771	Seahawks	1984	2023	New England (NEWMAC)
	New London, Connecticut	1876	Federal	1,045	Bears	1984	1987	New England (NEWMAC)

Notes:

Former associate members

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

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Left	Primary conference	CCC sport(s)
Becker College	Worcester, Massachusetts	1784	Nonsectarian	1,892	Hawks	2016; 2017	2021; 2021	N/A	men's ice hockey football
Johnson & Wales University	Providence, Rhode Island	1914	Nonsectarian	16,000	Wildcats	2016	2018	Great Northeast (GNAC)	men's ice hockey
Suffolk University	Boston, Massachusetts	1906	Nonsectarian	16,095	Rams	2016	2018	Commonwealth Coast (CCC)	men's ice hockey

Notes:

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy

ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20

Period = from:1984 till:2030

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:2 color:FullxF from:1984 till:1987 text:Coast Guard (1984–1987) bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1987 till:1990 bar:2 shift:(15) color:OtherC2 from:1990 till:1998 text:Constitution bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1998 till:end text:NEWMAC

bar:3 color:FullxF from:1984 till:2017 text:Curry (1984–present) bar:3 color:Full from:2017 till:end

bar:4 color:FullxF from:1984 till:1989 text:Emerson (1984–1989) bar:4 shift:(15) color:OtherC1 from:1989 till:1995 text:Independent bar:4 color:OtherC2 from:1995 till:2013 text:GNAC bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:end text:NEWMAC

bar:5 color:FullxF from:1984 till:1985 text:Hellenic (1984–1985), then dropped athletics

bar:6 color:FullxF from:1984 till:2017 text:Salve Regina (1984–2023) bar:6 color:Full from:2017 till:2023 bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text:NEWMAC

bar:7 color:FullxF from:1984 till:end text:Wentworth (1984–present)

bar:8 color:FullxF from:1985 till:end text:Roger Williams (1985–present)

bar:9 color:FullxF from:1987 till:end text:Gordon (MA) (1987–present)

bar:10 color:FullxF from:1988 till:2011 text:Regis (MA) (1988–2011) bar:10 color:OtherC1 from:2011 till:2017 text:NECC bar:10 color:OtherC2 from:2017 till:end text:GNAC

bar:11 color:FullxF from:1989 till:2011 text:New England (N.H.) (1989–2011) bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:2011 till:2018 text:NAC bar:11 color:OtherC2 from:2018 till:2023 text:NECC bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text:GNAC

bar:12 color:FullxF from:1992 till:2018 text:Eastern Nazarene (1992–2018) bar:12 color:OtherC1 from:2018 till:2023 text:NECC bar:12 color:OtherC2 from:2023 till:end text:NAC

bar:13 color:FullxF from:1995 till:2011 text:Colby–Sawyer (1995–2011, 2024-present, men's tennis) bar:13 color:OtherC1 from:2011 till:2018 text:NAC bar:13 color:OtherC2 from:2018 till:2024 text:GNAC bar:13 color:AssocOS from:2024 till:end

bar:14 color:FullxF from:1995 till:2017 text:Nichols (1995–present) bar:14 color:Full from:2017 till:end

bar:15 color:FullxF from:1999 till:2017 text:Endicott (1999–present) bar:15 color:Full from:2017 till:end

bar:16 color:FullxF from:1999 till:2018 text:Univ. of New England (Me.) (1999–present) bar:16 color:Full from:2018 till:end

bar:17 color:FullxF from:2007 till:2017 text:Western New England (2007–present) bar:17 color:Full from:2017 till:end

bar:18 color:AssocOS from:2016 till:2017 text:Becker (2016–2021, men's ice hockey; 2017–2021, football) bar:18 color:AssocF from:2017 till:2021 text:

bar:19 color:AssocOS from:2016 till:2018 text:JWU (2016–2018, men's ice hockey) bar:19 shift:25 color:FullXF from:2024 till:end text: (2024–future)

bar:20 color:AssocOS from:2016 till:2018 text:Suffolk (2016–2018, men's ice hockey; 2020–present, full) bar:20 color:FullXF from:2020 till:end text:

bar:21 color:AssocF from:2019 till:end text:Husson (2019–present, football)

bar:22 color:FullXF from:2023 till:end text:Hartford (2023–present)

bar:23 color:AssocOS from:2024 till:end text:Saint Joeseph (CT) (2024-present, men's tennis)

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1985

Sports

See also: Conference of New England men's basketball tournament and Conference of New England ice hockey tournament. The CNE sponsors intercollegiate athletic competition in 20 sports. The conference started sponsoring football in the 2017-18 season, absorbing the former football-only New England Football Conference. From 2017 to 2021 football was operated as a single-sport conference branded Commonwealth Coast Football.^[8] Due to changes in NCAA legislation regarding the number of members required for a for a conference to receive and automatic qualifier (AQ), football was fully incorporated into the multi-sport conference in 2022, eliminating the need for the football-only league. Women's ice hockey was added as a conference sport in 2020-21 when the CNE took over operations of the Colonial Hockey Conference.^[9]

Men's	Women's
Baseball
Basketball
Cross country
Field hockey
Football
Golf
Ice hockey
Lacrosse
Soccer
Softball
Tennis
Track and field
Volleyball

Sports sponsorship!School!MXC!WXC!FH!FB!MSOC!WSOC!WTEN!WVB!MBB!MIH!WIH!WBB!BASE!GOLF!MLAX!WLAX!SOFT!MTEN!M T&F!W T&F

Curry

Endicott

Gordon

Hartford

Nichols

Roger Williams

Suffolk

U. of New England

Wentworth

Western New England

Notes and References

1. Web site: CCC Unveils Visual Rebrand and Identity Initiative. Commonwealth Coast Conference. June 17, 2019. March 30, 2022.
2. https://hartfordhawks.com/news/2022/6/21/general-university-of-hartford-athletics-joins-commonwealth-coast-conference-ccc.aspx University of Hartford Athletics Joins Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) - University of Hartford Athletics
3. NEWMAC Welcomes Salve Regina University as Newest Member Effective July 1, 2023 . New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference . July 13, 2022 . July 26, 2022.
4. Web site: CCC Accepts Johnson & Wales University As Newest Conference Member. JWU Providence Athletics. 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221209053354/https://providence.jwuathletics.com/general/2022-23/releases/20221208mlqeio. 9 December 2022.
5. Web site: Maine Maritime Academy to Reinstate Football Program - About MMA - Maine Maritime Academy . 2023-04-09 . en-US.
6. Web site: New England College Set to Join Commonwealth Coast Conference as an Associate Member for Football . 2023-11-18 . en-US.
7. The Conference of New England is Here. Conference of New England. August 1, 2024. August 1, 2024.
8. Web site: October 5, 2015 . Commonwealth Coast Conference To Administer Football Championship Beginning in 2017-18 . March 30, 2022 . Commonwealth Coast Conference.
9. Web site: October 4, 2019 . CCC To Administer Women’s Ice Hockey Starting In 2020-21 . Commonwealth Coast Conference. en. March 30, 2022.