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The Collegiate Conference of the South is formed
- Spring, 2022 

 

Nine member institutions, formerly of the USA South Athletic Conference, have officially formed a new NCAA Division III athletic conference following a planned and collegial separation from the USA South.

This new conference, the “Collegiate Conference of the South” (CCS), will include Agnes Scott College, Belhaven University, Berea College, Covenant College, Huntingdon College, LaGrange College, Maryville College, Piedmont University, and Wesleyan College. 

 

After years of internal discussions, a two-conference separation strategy emerged, and more recently, the USA South Presidents Council formally committed to the establishment of two viable conferences. The new CCS was officially incorporated in the State of Georgia on January 12, 2022, and application materials for conference membership have been officially approved by the NCAA. 

 

CCS schools are being supported in forming this new conference by Dr. Kurt Patberg, Senior Vice President of Athletic Staffing and Consultants, who is currently serving as the CCS Acting Commissioner. The CCS Presidents Council and Executive Committee are led by Dr. Bryan Coker (President, Maryville College), Chair; Dr. Susanna Baxter (President, LaGrange College), Vice Chair; and Dr. Cameron West (President, Huntingdon College), At-Large Representative. 

 

Dr. Bryan Coker, CCS Chair, stated of this news, “We are grateful to our USA South colleagues for the amicable and productive manner in which this separation has been approached, and we are immensely excited about the possibilities which lay ahead for the new Collegiate Conference of the South.”

 

In addition to sharing the member institutions’ geographic identity, the name, “Collegiate Conference of the South,” is indicative of their shared commitment to academic excellence, which is commensurate with the NCAA Division III philosophy. Contingent upon NCAA approval, the CCS plans to officially begin full-time operations in summer 2022, and then compete in 13 championship sports beginning in Fall 2022.