East Coast Conference

The East Coast Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division II level. Member institutions are located primarily in the state of New York, with a single member located in the District of Columbia.

History

The East Coast Conference was founded in 1989 as the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference. Its charter members included Adelphi University, Concordia College, C. W. Post College, Dowling College, Mercy College, Molloy College, New York Institute of Technology , Pace University, Queens College and Southampton College of Long Island University.
Other members that joined were: University of Bridgeport, University of New Haven, New Jersey Institute of Technology , Philadelphia University, College of Saint Rose, St. Thomas Aquinas College, University of the District of Columbia, Roberts Wesleyan College, Daemen University, D'Youville University and College of Staten Island.
The ECC has become a lacrosse powerhouse, seeing six ECC teams win the Division II Men's Lacrosse championship over the past 10 years. In addition, at least 1 ECC team has competed in 13 the last 14 championship games. Recent ECC champions include Adelphi, C.W. Post, Dowling College, NYIT, and Mercyhurst College
Two changes to the conference membership were announced in the fall of 2018. First, it was announced on October 3, 2018 that Long Island University would unite its two athletic programs—the Division II LIU Post program and Division I program at LIU Brooklyn—into a single Division I program under the overall university name effective in 2019–20. Second, it was announced on December 7, 2018 that beginning with the 2020 season, Frostburg State University will join the conference as an associate member in men's lacrosse, contingent on being accepted into Division II by the NCAA.
The next change in conference membership was announced in March 2019, when the College of Staten Island, preparing to begin a transition from NCAA Division III, was accepted as a member effective with the 2020–21 school year. The following August, Tusculum University was announced as a bowling affiliate, effective in 2019–20. In March 2020, then-current Division III member D'Youville College was announced as a future member effective in 2020–21, contingent on NCAA approval of that school's transition to D-II; the NCAA's acceptance was officially announced on July 10, 2020.
In December 2021, the University of Bridgeport published its acceptance into the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference as its new member for the 2022–23 school year.

Chronological timeline

1989 – The East Coast Conference was founded as the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference. Its charter members included Adelphi University, Concordia College of New York, Dowling College, the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, Mercy College, Molloy College, the New York Institute of Technology, Pace University, Queens College and Southampton College of Long Island University, beginning the 1989–90 academic year.
1991 – The Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science and the College of Saint Rose joined the NYCAC in the 1991–92 academic year.
1997 – Pace left the NYCAC to join the Northeast-10 Conference after the 1996–97 academic year.
1997 – The New Jersey Institute of Technology joined the NYCAC in the 1997–98 academic year.
2000 – Two institutions left the NYCAC to join their respective new home primary conferences, both effective after the 1999–2000 academic year:
* New Jersey Tech to join the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference
* and Saint Rose to join the NE-10
2000 – The University of Bridgeport and St. Thomas Aquinas College joined the NYCAC in the 2000–01 academic year.
2002 – The University of New Haven joined the NYCAC in the 2002–03 academic year.
2005 – Two institutions left the NYCAC to join their respective new home primary conferences, both effective after the 2004–05 academic year:
* Philadelphia to join the CACC
* and LIU Southampton to discontinue its athletic program and close the school
2005 – Mercyhurst University joined the NYCAC as an affiliate member for men's lacrosse in the 2006 spring season.
2006 – The NYCAC was rebranded as the East Coast Conference in the 2006–07 academic year.
2006 – Dominican College of New York, known since 2022 as Dominican University New York, joined the ECC as an affiliate member for men's lacrosse in the 2007 spring season.
2008 – New Haven left the ECC to join the NE-10 after the 2007-08 academic year.
2009 – Two institutions left the ECC to join their respective new home primary conferences, both effective after the 2008–09 academic year:
* Adelphi to join the NE-10
* and Concordia to join the CACC
2009 – Four institutions joined the ECC as affiliate members, all effective in the 2010 spring season :
* Chestnut Hill College and Wheeling Jesuit University for only men's lacrosse
* Lake Erie College and Seton Hill University for men's and women's lacrosse
2011 – The University of the District of Columbia joined the ECC in the 2011–12 academic year.
2012 – Three institutions left the ECC as affiliate members, all effective after the 2012 spring season :
* Lake Erie and Seton Hill for men's and women's lacrosse
* and Mercyhurst and Wheeling Jesuit for only men's lacrosse
2012 – Roberts Wesleyan College joined the ECC in the 2012–13 academic year.
2012 – Georgian Court University joined the ECC as an affiliate member for women's indoor and outdoor track & field in the 2012–13 academic year.
2013 – Georgian Court left the ECC as an affiliate member for women's outdoor track & field after the 2013–14 academic year.
2013 – Daemen College joined the ECC in the 2013–14 academic year.
2013 – Georgian Court added men's indoor track & field into its ECC affiliate membership in the 2013–14 academic year.
2015 – Felician University, Franklin Pierce University and Kutztown University of Pennsylvania joined the ECC as affiliate members for women's bowling, all effective in the 2016 spring season.
2016
* Dowling left the ECC to announce that the school would cease operations after the 2015–16 academic year.
* Three institutions joined the ECC as affiliate members, all effective in the 2017 spring season :
** Holy Family University for men's and women's indoor track & field
** and Lincoln Memorial University and Salem University for women's bowling
2017
* Three institutions left the ECC as affiliate members, all effective after the 2017 spring season :
** Chestnut Hill and Dominican for men's lacrosse
** and Salem for women's bowling
* Wilmington University of Delaware joined the ECC as an affiliate member for women's bowling, both effective in the 2018 spring season.
2018
* Franklin Pierce left the ECC as an affiliate member for women's bowling after the 2018 spring season.
* Three institutions joined the ECC as affiliate members, all effective in the 2019 spring season :
** Bloomfield College and Caldwell University for women's bowling
** and Post University for men's & women's indoor track & field
2019
* Long Island University, the parent of LIU Post, announced that it would merge the Post athletic program with the D-I athletic program of its Brooklyn campus after the 2018–19 academic year, creating a D-I program that now competes as the LIU Sharks.
* Three institutions joined the ECC as affiliate members, all effective in the 2020 spring season :
** Frostburg State University for men's lacrosse
** Lincoln University of Pennsylvania for baseball and women's soccer
** and Tusculum University for women's bowling
2020
* New York Tech left the ECC to announce that the school would suspend its athletic programs until further notice after the 2019–20 academic year.
* D'Youville College and the College of Staten Island joined the ECC in the 2020–21 academic year.
2021 – Lincoln Memorial and Tusculum left the ECC as affiliate members for women's bowling after the 2021 spring season.
2022
* Bridgeport left the ECC to join the CACC after the 2021–22 academic year.
* Division I member Bryant University and Saint Anselm College joined as affiliate members for women's bowling in the 2023 spring season.
* Bloomfield, Caldwell, Chestnut Hill, Felician and Wilmington left the ECC as affiliate members for women's bowling after the 2022 spring season ; as their primary conference home launched a bowling league, beginning spring 2023.
2023 – The ECC announced it would sponsor men's volleyball in the 2024 spring season with four schools, three of which started men's volleyball programs in that season. Full members Roberts Wesleyan and St. Thomas Aquinas were joined by associates American International College and Dominican. Alliance University was originally announced as a fifth sponsoring member, but the university announced it would permanently close on July 1 before they had played a single game. Of these schools, only American International played men's volleyball in the 2023 season.
2024
* Lincoln left the ECC as an affiliate member in baseball and women's soccer after the 2023–24 academic year.
* Mercyhurst left the ECC as an affiliate member for women's bowling after the 2024 spring season.
2026 – The ECC will begin sponsoring field hockey in the 2026 fall season. Full members D'Youville, Mercy, Molloy, Roberts Wesleyan, and St. Thomas Aquinas will be joined by associate Dominican.
Member schools

Current members

The ECC currently has nine full members, all but three are private schools.

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Colors
Daemen University	Amherst, New York	1947	Nonsectarian	2,540	Wildcats	2013
	Washington, D.C.	1851	Public	4,202	Firebirds	2011
	Buffalo, New York	1946	Catholic	2,376	Saints	2020
Mercy University	Dobbs Ferry, New York	1950	Nonsectarian	8,774	Mavericks	1989
Molloy University	Rockville Centre, New York	1955	Catholic	4,845	Lions	1989
Queens College	Queens, New York	1937	Public	15,965	Knights	1989
Roberts Wesleyan University	Rochester, New York	1866	Free Methodist	1,619	Redhawks	2012
	Sparkill, New York	1952	Catholic	1,950	Spartans	2000
	Staten Island, New York	1956	Public	10,973	Dolphins	2020

;Notes:

East Coast Conference

History

Chronological timeline

Member schools

Current members