MARYVILLE, Tn. - Maryville College President Dr. Bryan Coker has been selected to serve on the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division III Presidents Council, the division’s highest governing body.
The council’s purpose is to establish and direct the general policy and strategic plan of Division III, which is the largest of NCAA’s three divisions with 433 active schools, 44 voting conferences and almost 200,000 student-athletes. Established in 1973, D3 is made up of roughly 40% of all NCAA student-athletes, including those who make up the MC Athletics teams, and scholarships are awarded based on academic merit and financial need.
“I believe deeply in the student-athlete experience, especially at the NCAA Division III level,” Coker said. “Having worked with NCAA athletics at four different institutions at both the Division I and III levels, I have seen many dimensions of the student-athlete experience. I look forward to bringing that experience to the NCAA Presidents Council.”
The 20-member body consists of 18 college presidents and chancellors, as well as two student-athletes, who have the ability to make recommendations to the NCAA Board of Governors on D3-related matters such as championships and the allocation of funds. In addition, the Presidents Council may sponsor legislation independent of the body’s Management Council.
During his four-year term, effective immediately, Coker will represent Maryville College and the College’s athletic conference, the Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS).
The CCS was created in early 2022 to incorporate some of the schools in the USA South Athletic Conference, which at the time was the largest D3 collective with 19 member schools. Maryville College joined Agnes Scott College, Belhaven University, Berea College, Covenant College, Huntingdon College, LaGrange College, Piedmont University and Wesleyan College to form the CCS, and Coker has served as the chair since its inception.
“As Maryville College’s president and as founding chair of the Collegiate Conference of the South, I hope to contribute to the advancement of intercollegiate athletics on a larger scale as part of the Presidents Council,” Coker said.
- Information for this release provided by the communications staff at Maryville College -
ABOUT THE COLLEGIATE CONFERENCE OF THE SOUTH
The CCS is an NCAA Division III athletic conference that began play during the 2022-23 academic year. The conference features nine members and sponsors championships across 14 sports. In addition to sharing the member institutions' geographic identity, the name 'Collegiate Conference of the South' is indicative of a shared commitment to academic excellence, which is commensurate with the NCAA Division III philosophy.
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