The University of St. Thomas has received an invitation to join the Division I Summit League.
This comes four months after the school was kicked out of the Division III Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for what the league called "athletic competitive parity."
President Julie Sullivan has issued an athletics conference update. https://t.co/GbpRzVWbLV
— Univ. of St. Thomas (@UofStThomasMN)
October 4, 2019 St. Thomas has won the MIAC's all-sports trophy on a regular basis in the past 15 years.
The move hinges on approval by the NCAA for St. Thomas to move up to Division I.
If the school receives a waiver, the Tommies would join the Summit League for the 2021-22 school year.
STATEMENT FROM SUMMIT LEAGUE COMMISSIONER TOM DOUPLE ON INVITATION TO ST. THOMAS UNIVERSITY:“The President’s Council unanimously and enthusiastically voted to support the membership application made to the League by the University of St. Thomas. The vote is the result of months of due diligence and extensive research including numerous campus visits, stakeholder meetings, and data collection. While the League recognizes the extraordinary efforts ahead for UST to seek Division I membership, we believe this institution is the right fit for The Summit League and we will support the reclassification process.”
The Summit League currently fields teams in all sports except football and ice hockey.
"We would have to seek affiliate memberships in other leagues for those particular sports," said St. Thomas athletic director Phil Esten.
As for the Summit League...
"We excited to join a league that aspires to do great things across the country," said Esten."We think that it's a good fit for us, and on the other side, I think that they look at the University of St. Thomas as a good spot, partly because of the success we've had."
Here is the current membership of the Summit League:
- Denver
- North Dakota
- North Dakota State
- Nebraska-Omaha
- Oral Roberts
- Purdue-Fort Wayne
- South Dakota
- South Dakota State
- Western Illinois
