St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

History

Key milestones

• February 1991: The first SLIAC men's basketball tournament is held.
• February 1995: Westminster wins the men's basketball tournament title to earn the SLIAC's first automatic bid to an NCAA Division III national championship event.
• March 1996: MacMurray wins the women's basketball tournament title to earn the conference's first automatic bid to an NCAA Division III women's national championship event.
• November 1996: Blackburn, MacMurray, and Westminster share the first-ever SLIAC football title.
• September 1999: The SLIAC begins its tenth year of operation.
• November 1999: The fourth and final conference football title is awarded.
• May 2007: William Wolper hired as the Conference's first full-time Commissioner.
• September 2008: Football begins play as the 13th conference sport after a nine-year hiatus.
• April 2009: The SLIAC announced it would cease its sponsorship of football; five football-playing schools join the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference as associate members for the sport. Huntingdon and LaGrange end football affiliation with the conference.

Recent events

Chronological timeline

• 1989 – In September 1989, the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference was founded. Charter members included Blackburn College of Illinois, Fontbonne College, Maryville College of the Sacred Heart, Parks College, Principia College and Webster University, beginning the 1989–90 academic year.
• 1990 – MacMurray College and Westminster College of Missouri joined the SLIAC in the 1990–91 academic year; also conference competition for all sports began along the way.
• 1995 – Greenville University joined the SLIAC in the 1995 86 academic year.
• 1996 – Parks left the SLIAC after the 1995–96 academic year; as it ceased operations and its academic programs were moved to the Saint Louis University campus.
• 2006 – Eureka College and Lincoln Christian College joined the SLIAC in the 2006–07 academic year.
• 2007 – Lincoln Christian left the SLIAC at the end of the fall 2007 semester, during the 2007–08 academic year.
• 2008 – Huntingdon College and LaGrange College joined the SLIAC as affiliate members for football in the 2008 fall season ; as the conference announced the return of football after a nine-year hiatus.
• 2009:
• * Huntingdon and LaGrange left the SLIAC as affiliate members for football after the 2008 fall season.
• * Spalding University joined the SLIAC in the 2009–10 academic year.
• 2010 – The University of Dallas joined the SLIAC as an affiliate member for men's golf and men's and women's cross country in the 2010–11 academic year.
• 2011 – U. of Dallas left the SLIAC as an affiliate member for men's golf to join as a full member of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference after the 2010–11 academic year.
• 2013 – Iowa Wesleyan College joined the SLIAC in the 2013–14 academic year.
• 2019 – Grinnell College, Illinois College, Knox College of Illinois, Lake Forest College and Monmouth College joined the SLIAC as affiliate members for men's and women's golf in the 2019–20 academic year.
• 2020 – MacMurray left the SLIAC after the 2019–20 academic year; as the school ceased operations due to financial struggles.
• 2021 – Iowa Wesleyan left the SLIAC and the NCAA to return to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics as an Independent within the Association of Independent Institutions after the 2020–21 academic year.
• 2023:
• * Lyon College and the Mississippi University for Women joined the SLIAC in the 2023–24 academic year.
• * The University of the Ozarks and Schreiner University joined the SLIAC as affiliate members for men's and women's wrestling in the 2023–24 academic year.
• 2025:
• * Fontbonne left the SLIAC after the 2024–25 academic year; as the school ceased operations.
• * McMurry University joined the SLIAC as an affiliate member for men's and women's wrestling in the 2025–26 academic year.

Member schools

Current members

Affiliate members

Former members

Former affiliate members

Membership timeline

Sports