Four universities join TU’s athletics conference

February 23, 2022

The Colonial Athletic Association, the conference home of the Towson Tigers athletics program, announced on Tuesday that North Carolina A&T State University will be joining as a new member starting in July 2022. 

The announcement comes on the heels of the addition of three other institutions January 25.  Hampton, Monmouth and Stony Brook universities accepted membership invitations to join the conference, which will include 13 participant universities by the fall 2022 term. On Tuesday, the CAA announced the news in a release.
 
In addition to TU and the four new institutions, the CAA is comprised of the College of Charleston, University of Delaware, Drexel University, Elon University, Hofstra University, University of North Carolina-Wilmington, Northeastern University and William & Mary.
 
“The addition of these universities to our athletics conference will benefit not only our student-athletes but our entire university community,” Towson University President Kim Schatzel said. “These universities add to the stellar institutions in the mid-Atlantic region that we both compete with on the fields and courts, and collaborate with as leaders and educators. I applaud our conference leadership for this forward-thinking approach to our conference structure.”
 
The CAA encompasses many of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas with a geographic footprint that stretches from Boston to Charleston, S.C. The conference has produced 18 national team champions in five different sports, 33 individual national champions, 15 national players of the year, 15 national coaches of the year and 13 Honda Award winners. 
 
Just as impressive, however, are the honors accumulated away from competition, which include five Rhodes Scholars and 25 NCAA post-graduate scholars. In 2020-21, more than 2,800 of the league’s student-athletes received the Commissioner’s Academic Award after posting at least a 3.0 grade point average while lettering in a varsity sport. The conference had 42 teams in 17 different sports receive NCAA Public Recognition Awards based on the latest Academic Progress Report released in 2020.
 
“We are pleased to welcome North Carolina A&T as the newest member of the CAA,” CAA Commissioner Joe D’Antonio said. “The Aggies fit perfectly into the framework of the Conference’s vison that calls for our membership to work together to advance nationally competitive athletic programs – coupled with outstanding academic programs – that empower student-athletes as whole persons to strive at the highest level in every aspect of their lives. The CAA is excited to add a second HBCU to its membership, and going forward the Conference will continue to be focused on making decisions that ensures its membership a competitive and sustainable model.”

The CAA conducts championships in 22 sports. Male athletes compete for championships in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis and track & field. Female athletes battle for conference titles in basketball, cross country, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field and volleyball.
 
Towson Tigers teams recently have won conference titles in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) or Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), including women’s basketball, women’s indoor track, men’s lacrosse, women’s lacrosse, women’s volleyball and swimming and diving; and, on a national scale, Tigers football and men’s lacrosse teams each made NCAA National Championship appearances. 

TU’s Department of Athletics also has achieved significant milestones recently in student-athlete community service as well as diversity and inclusion, including the 2018-19 NCAA National Championship for the most community service hours by a Division I school, as well as the NCAA and Minority Opportunities Athletic Association 2021 Award for Diversity and Inclusion. TU Athletics consistently achieves the highest Graduation Success Rate (GSR) among Division I universities within the University System of Maryland. With recent upgrades to its facilities, TU is home to one of the premier mid-major athletic complexes in the nation.