Liberty League

Liberty League
Liberty League
Established	1995
Association	NCAA
Division	Division III
Members	12
Sports fielded	26 men's: 14; women's: 13; ;
Region	Upstate New York
Former names	Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association
Headquarters	Troy, New York
Commissioner	Tracy King
Website	libertyleagueathletics.com
Locations

The Liberty League is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division III. Member schools are top institutions that are all located in the state of New York.

History

Map showing current full member institutions (click to enlarge)

Chronological timeline

1995 - In 1995, the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association (UCAA). The charter members were: Clarkson University, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, the University of Rochester, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, St. Lawrence University, Skidmore College, and Union College.

2001 - Vassar College joined the UCAA, effective the 2000-01 academic year.

2004 - On 1 July 2004, the UCAA was renamed as the Liberty League; effective the 2004-05 academic year.

2004 - The United States Coast Guard Academy (Coast Guard), the United States Merchant Marine Academy (Merchant Marine) and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) joined the Libertty League as associate members for football, effective the 2004 fall season (2004-05 academic year).

2006 - U.S. Coast Guard left the Liberty League as an associate member for football, effective the 2005 fall season (2005-06 academic year).

2007 - Susquehanna University joined the Liberty League as an associate member for football, effective the 2007 fall season (2007-08 academic year).

2009 - U.S. Merchant Marine added men's golf to its Liberty League membership, effective the 2010 spring season (2009-10 academic year).

2010 - Susquehanna left the Liberty League as an associate member for football, effective the 2009 fall season (2009-10 academic year).

2011 - Founding member Hamilton College left the Liberty League in order to fully integrate its athletic programs within the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), effective the 2010–11 academic year.

2011 - Bard College and Rochester Institute of Technology joined for the 2011–12 academic year.

2012 - U.S. Merchant Marine left the Liberty League as an associate member for men's golf after dropping the sport, effective the 2012 spring season (2011-12 academic year).

2012 - Springfield College joined the Liberty League as an associate member for football, while New York University joined as an associate member for both men's and women's golf, and Wellesley College and Mount Holyoke College joined as associate members for women's golf, all effective the 2012-13 academic year.

2013 - St. John Fisher College joined the Liberty League as an associate member for men's and women's rowing, effective the 2013-14 academic year.

2017 - Springfield, U.S. Merchant Marine and Worcester Poly (WPI) left the Liberty League as associate members for football, effective the 2006 fall season (2016-17 academic year).

2017 - Ithaca College joined the Liberty League, effective the 2017–18 academic year.

2019 - Buffalo State College joined the Liberty League as an associate member for football, effective the 2019 fall season (2019-20 academic year).

2020 - Mount Holyoke left the Liberty League as an associate member for women's golf after dropping the sport, effective the 2020 spring season (2019-20 academic year).

Accomplishments

Offensive linesman Ali Marpet of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, drafted in the 2nd round, 61st overall, of the 2015 NFL draft, is the highest-drafted pick in the history of Division III football.[1] He was three-time All-Liberty League first team (2012, 2013, 2014), and 2014 Liberty League Co-Offensive Player of the Year—the first offensive lineman in league history to be so honored.[2][3][4]

Member schools

Current members

Full member institutions include:

Institution	Nickname	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Joined	Football?
Bard College	Raptors	Annandale-on-Hudson, New York	1860	Private	1,958	2011	No
Clarkson University	Golden Knights	Potsdam, New York	1896	Private	2,848	1995	No
Hobart College[lower-alpha 1]	Statesmen	Geneva, New York	1822	Private	905	1995	Yes
Ithaca College	Bombers	Ithaca, New York	1892	Private	6,769	2017	Yes
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)	Engineers	Troy, New York	1824	Private	5,431	1995	Yes
University of Rochester[lower-alpha 2]	Yellowjackets	Rochester, New York	1850	Private	12,233	1995	Yes
Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)	Tigers	Henrietta, New York	1829	Private	18,000	2011	No
St. Lawrence University	Saints	Canton, New York	1856	Private	2,327	1995	Yes
Skidmore College	Thoroughbreds	Saratoga Springs, New York	1903	Private	2,734	1995	No
Union College	Dutchmen	Schenectady, New York	1795	Private	2,197	1995	Yes
Vassar College	Brewers	Poughkeepsie, New York	1861	Private	2,446	2001	No
William Smith College[lower-alpha 1]	Herons	Geneva, New York	1908	Private	1,045	1995	No

Notes

Hobart (men) and William Smith (women) are together the Colleges of the Seneca and usually grouped together, but they participate separately in athletics.
Rochester holds both dual conference membership with the Liberty and with the University Athletic Association (UAA).

Associate members

Institution	Nickname	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Joined	Primary conference	Liberty sport
Buffalo State College	Bengals	Buffalo, New York	1871	Public	8,339	2019–20	SUNYAC	football
New York University	Violets	New York City	1832	Private	22,280	2012–13	UAA	men's golf women's golf
St. John Fisher College	Cardinals	Rochester, New York	1948	Private	4,000	2013–14	Empire 8	men's rowing women's rowing
Wellesley College	Blue	Wellesley, Massachusetts	1870	Private/Non-sectarian	2,300	2012–13	NEWMAC	women's golf

Former members

Institution	Nickname	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Joined	Left	Current conference
Hamilton College[lower-alpha 1]	Continentals	Clinton, New York	1793	Private	1,864	1995–96	2010–11	NESCAC

Notes

Hamilton left the Liberty League after the 2010–11 school year in order to fully align with the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), of which it has been a charter member since 1971. The school previously held dual membership with both the Liberty and NESCAC conferences.

Former associate members

Institution	Nickname	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Joined	Left	Current conference in former Liberty sport	Primary conference	Liberty sport
United States Coast Guard Academy (Coast Guard)	Bears	New London, Connecticut	1876	Federal	1,045	2004–05	2005–06	NEWMAC[lower-alpha 1]		football
United States Merchant Marine Academy (Merchant Marine)	Mariners	Kings Point, New York	1942	Federal	910	2004–05^fb. 2009–10^m.gf.	2016–17^fb. 2011–12^m.gf.	NEWMAC^fb. Dropped men's golf^m.gf.	Skyline	football[5] men's golf
Mount Holyoke College	Lyons	South Hadley, Massachusetts	1837	Private	2,100	2012–13	2019–20	Dropped women's golf [6]	NEWMAC	women's golf
Springfield College	Pride	Springfield, Massachusetts	1885	Private	5,062	2012–13	2016–17	NEWMAC		football[7]
Susquehanna University	River Hawks	Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania	1858	Private	2,200	2007–08	2009–10	Centennial[lower-alpha 2]	Landmark	football
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)	Engineers	Worcester, Massachusetts	1865	Private	5,071	2004–05	2016–17	NEWMAC		football

Liberty League other members

🌍

Locations of Liberty League other members, 2021-2022

Current associate

Former full

Former associate

Notes

Coast Guard was a football-only associate member in the 2004 and 2005 seasons after its previous conference, the Freedom Football Conference, disbanded (it competed in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) in most other sports, where it remains). After two seasons it moved to the New England Football Conference (since rebranded as Commonwealth Coast Football), where it remained through the 2016 season. Coast Guard football joined its other sports in the NEWMAC in 2017, when that league began sponsoring football.
Susquehanna was a football-only associate member in the 2007, 2008 and 2009 seasons after leaving its previous football conference, the Middle Atlantic Conferences (it then competed in the Landmark Conference in most other sports, where it remains). After three seasons it moved to the Centennial Conference.

Membership timeline

Sports

The Liberty League sponsors intercollegiate athletic competition in men's baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's crew, men's and women's cross country, women's field hockey, men's football, men's golf, men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women’s soccer, women's softball, men's and women's squash, men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's track and field, and women's volleyball.

References

Kevin McGuire (May 2, 2015). "Ali Marpet puts D3 Hobart on the NFL Draft scoreboard – College Football Talk". NBC Sports.
"Liberty League Athletics – Liberty League announces 2014 Football Award Recipients". Liberty League.
"Press Release: News: Senior Bowl". seniorbowl.com.
"AFCA Announces 2014 Division III Coaches All-America Team". afca.com. Archived from the original on 2015-02-27.
Liberty League Archived 2006-09-03 at the Wayback Machine
"Mount Holyoke College Discontinues Varsity Golf Program". 2020-09-10. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-02-10. Retrieved 2010-02-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links

Official website

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[HWS-5] Hobart (men) and William Smith (women) are together the Colleges of the Seneca and usually grouped together, but they participate separately in athletics.

[6] Rochester holds both dual conference membership with the Liberty and with the University Athletic Association (UAA).

[7] Hamilton left the Liberty League after the 2010–11 school year in order to fully align with the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), of which it has been a charter member since 1971. The school previously held dual membership with both the Liberty and NESCAC conferences.

[8] Coast Guard was a football-only associate member in the 2004 and 2005 seasons after its previous conference, the Freedom Football Conference, disbanded (it competed in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) in most other sports, where it remains). After two seasons it moved to the New England Football Conference (since rebranded as Commonwealth Coast Football), where it remained through the 2016 season. Coast Guard football joined its other sports in the NEWMAC in 2017, when that league began sponsoring football.

[12] Susquehanna was a football-only associate member in the 2007, 2008 and 2009 seasons after leaving its previous football conference, the Middle Atlantic Conferences (it then competed in the Landmark Conference in most other sports, where it remains). After three seasons it moved to the Centennial Conference.

[nbcsports.com-1] Kevin McGuire (May 2, 2015). "Ali Marpet puts D3 Hobart on the NFL Draft scoreboard – College Football Talk". NBC Sports.

[2] "Liberty League Athletics – Liberty League announces 2014 Football Award Recipients". Liberty League.

[3] "Press Release: News: Senior Bowl". seniorbowl.com.

[auto1-4] "AFCA Announces 2014 Division III Coaches All-America Team". afca.com. Archived from the original on 2015-02-27.

[9] Liberty League Archived 2006-09-03 at the Wayback Machine

[10] "Mount Holyoke College Discontinues Varsity Golf Program". 2020-09-10. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

[11] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-02-10. Retrieved 2010-02-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

Liberty League
Current full members	Bard Raptors Clarkson Golden Knights Hobart Statesmen Ithaca Bombers RPI Engineers RIT Tigers Rochester Yellowjackets St. Lawrence Saints Skidmore Thoroughbreds Union Dutchmen and Dutchwomen Vassar Brewers William Smith Herons
Current associate members	Buffalo State Bengals (football) NYU Violets (men's and women's golf) St. John Fisher Cardinals (men's and women's rowing) Wellesley Blue (women's golf)
Former full member	Hamilton Continentals
Former associate members	Coast Guard Bears (football) Merchant Marine Mariners (football and men's golf) Mount Holyoke Lyons (women's golf) Springfield Pride (football) Susquehanna River Hawks (football) WPI Engineers (football)