KIRKSVILLE, MO. -- After 100 years in the MIAA Truman State is looking to change conferences.
TSU Athletic Director Jerry Wollmering addressed the issue Tuesday.
“On Monday, February 6, Truman sent a formal letter of interest to the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) office expressing our desire in being evaluated for potential membership.
This is the first piece of an intensive process that will take approximately four months to complete.
The next step in this process is for the GLVC to officially inform us that they have taken a vote of their membership and that they would like to move forward in developing a timeline to evaluate Truman State University.
This would begin with a campus visit by an evaluation team that, if approved, would consist of representation from the GLVC office and some of its member institutions.
We are anxiously awaiting a response from the GLVC, and until that notification is received, it would be premature to have a thorough decision about our interest.
The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) and the GLVC are both outstanding NCAA Division II conferences, and Truman will be a fine representative for whichever league we compete as a full member.
One reason for exploring this option is that the geographic landscape of both conferences has changed dramatically.
The GLVC, which consisted initially of schools located in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, now has moved west right into our backyard.
Recently, two Kentucky schools (Northern Kentucky and Kentucky Wesleyan College) have publicly announced their intentions to leave the GLVC, resulting in two-thirds of the 15 remaining GLVC schools being located in Missouri (6) and Illinois (4).
The overall geographical shift in both leagues is what prompted us to revisit conference affiliation once again.
Ultimately, it is our goal to do what is best for Truman State University and our student-athletes. We will comment further when and if the process moves along. “
Courtesy Truman State University