United East Conference


The United East Conference, formerly known as the North Eastern Athletic Conference, is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III.
Member institutions are located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.

History

The North Eastern Athletic Conference was founded in 2004. The original membership consisted of the following schools: Baptist Bible College, Bard College, Cazenovia College, Chestnut Hill College, D'Youville College, Keuka College, Keystone College, Pennsylvania State University, Berks-Lehigh Valley College, Philadelphia Biblical University, Polytechnic University, the State University of New York at Purchase, and Villa Julie College.
At the conclusion of the 2006–07 season, the NEAC had a shifting of membership losing five institutions and gaining three new members. The departing members were: Bard, Chestnut Hill, Polytechnic, SUNY Purchase and Stevenson; while the new members were: Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg, Wells College and Wilson College of Pennsylvania. The NEAC consisted of 10 members in the 2007–08 season.
At the conclusion of the 2007–08 season, the NEAC lost an additional three institutions while gaining two new members. The departing members were: Baptist Bible, Keystone and Philadelphia Biblical. The new members were the State University of New York at Cobleskill and the State University of New York Institute of Technology ; the latter is now known as SUNY Polytechnic Institute. The NEAC consisted of nine members in the 2008–09 season.
The NEAC accepted four associate member institutions for the 2008–09 season; they were: Medaille College, Rutgers University–Camden, the State University of New York at Oneonta, and the University of Dallas. The University of Dallas also added women's volleyball to compete for the NEAC in the 2009–10 season.
At the conclusion of the 2008–09 season, the NEAC lost an additional founding member in D'Youville. In the 2009–10 season, the NEAC welcomed three additional new members in the College of Saint Elizabeth, Pennsylvania State University at Abington and the State University of New York at Morrisville. The NEAC had accepted four associate member institutions in that same season. Additionally, the NEAC also began a three year partnership with the North Atlantic Conference in four sports: baseball; women's lacrosse; and men's and women's tennis. Departing the NEAC at the conclusion of the 2009–10 season were associate members the University of Dallas and SUNY Oneonta.
In the 2010–11 season, the NEAC welcomed Gallaudet University as its twelfth member. In the 2011–12 season, the NEAC gained one new full member in Lancaster Bible College as its thirteenth full member; while Rutgers–Camden added men's tennis into its NEAC associate membership. The partnership between the NEAC and the NAC ended for baseball and women's lacrosse following the 2011–12 season. For the 2012–13 season, the NEAC added Hilbert College as an associate member for men's lacrosse.
At the conclusion of the 2012–13 season, the NEAC lost one full member in Penn State–Harrisburg, returning back to twelve schools. In the 2013–14 season, the NEAC added Cedar Crest College as an associate member for women's swimming. Beginning in the 2014–15 season, the NEAC accepted two new full members in Bryn Athyn College and Pennsylvania College of Technology, putting the conference to fourteen schools. Also in that same season, Wilson College, a former women's college that became co-educational in the 2013–14 school year, began a men's athletic program, and four other schools became men's volleyball associates, being Pennsylvania State University at Altoona and former full member D'Youville; while Medaille and Hilbert added that sport into their NEAC associate memberships.
Changes in the NEAC membership have continued to the present. On August 30, 2017, Bryn Athyn and Wilson announced that they would leave the NEAC for the Colonial States Athletic Conference, beginning the 2018–19 school year. The next change of membership came in 2019–20 with the return of Penn State–Harrisburg and the departure of Saint Elizabeth for the Colonial States Athletic Conference. In July 2020, the NEAC lost four members, with Keuka departing for the Empire 8 Athletic Conference and Cazenovia, SUNY Cobleskill, and SUNY Poly leaving for the North Atlantic Conference. The NEAC membership returned to nine in 2021, with the arrival of St. Mary's College of Maryland.

Recent events

On August 2, 2021, the conference revealed that it was rebranding itself as the United East Conference. The conference said that the name “United East” was chosen because it describes the conference’s commitment to collaborate on a shared mission in a diverse environment while also still giving a nod to the geographical placement of the member schools. The conference has never used the abbreviation of "UEC" in its branding.
On March 1, 2022, SUNY Morrisville announced that it would leave the United East to join the North Atlantic Conference starting in the 2023–24 academic year.
On July 6, 2022, the United East announced that Clarks Summit joined the conference as an associate member in men's golf and men's tennis starting in the 2022–23 academic year.
On August 15, 2022, Wells announced that it would leave the United East to join the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference starting in the 2023–24 academic year.
On December 19, 2022, the United East Conference and the Colonial States Athletic Conference announced their intent to merge beginning with the 2023–24 academic year. The merger was intended to address the evolving landscape of higher education by stabilizing conference membership and solidifying the sport sponsorship currently offered by the existing conferences. This merger also provided member institutions an opportunity to decrease the number of associate memberships necessary to support the current sport offerings on each respective campus. When the merger was finalized sports with a large number of members would compete in north and south divisions.
On June 23, 2023, the CSAC and United East officially announced that the merged conference would retain the United East name, officially ending the CSAC on July 1, 2023. Consequently, all ten members from the CSAC, Cedar Crest College, Clarks Summit University joined the United East.
On January 4, 2024, the United East accepted Pennsylvania State University, Brandywine's application to become a full member of the conference beginning in 2024–25.
On July 12, 2024, the United East announced the addition of Neumann University as an associate member for men's volleyball, beginning the 2025 spring season of the 2024–25 academic year.
On July 1, 2024, Clarks Summit University announced that it had ceased operations.
On December 16, 2024, the United East announced the addition of Immaculata University as an associate member for men's volleyball, beginning the 2026 spring season of the 2025–26 academic year.

Chronological timeline

  • 2004 – In 2004, the United East was founded as the North Eastern Athletic Conference. Charter members included Baptist Bible College, Bard College, Philadelphia Biblical University, Cazenovia College, Chestnut Hill College, D'Youville College, Keuka College, Keystone College, Pennsylvania State University, Berks, Polytechnic University, the State University of New York at Purchase, and Villa Julie College, beginning the 2004–05 academic year.
  • 2007:
  • * Five institutions left the NEAC to join their respective new home primary conferences, all effective after the 2006–07 academic year:
  • ** Bard, Polytechnic and SUNY Purchase to the Skyline Conference
  • ** Chestnut Hill to the Division II ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference
  • ** and Stevenson to the Capital Athletic Conference
  • * Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg, Wells College and Wilson College of Pennsylvania joined the NEAC in the 2007–08 academic year.
  • 2008:
  • * Baptist Bible Keystone and Philadelphia Biblical left the NEAC to join the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference after the 2007–08 academic year.
  • * The State University of New York at Cobleskill and the State University of New York Institute of Technology joined the NEAC in the 2008–09 academic year.
  • * Four institutions joined the NEAC as associate members, all effective in the 2008–09 academic year:
  • ** Medaille College for men's and women's lacrosse
  • ** Rutgers University–Camden for men's golf
  • ** the State University of New York at Oneonta for men's tennis
  • ** and the University of Dallas for men's soccer, men's golf, men's & women's cross country, and men's & women's basketball
  • 2009:
  • * D'Youville left the NEAC to join the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference after the 2008–09 academic year.
  • * The College of Saint Elizabeth, Penn State University at Abington and the State University of New York at Morrisville joined the NEAC in the 2009–10 academic year.
  • * Dallas added women's volleyball to its NEAC associate membership in the 2009 fall season.
  • * The NEAC had accepted four associate member institutions in that same season. Additionally, the NEAC also began a three year partnership with the North Atlantic Conference in four sports: baseball, women's lacrosse, and men's and women's tennis.
  • 2010:
  • * Two institutions left the NEAC as associate members, both effective after the 2009–10 academic year:
  • ** Dallas for most sports sponsored during its tenure
  • ** and SUNY Oneonta for men's tennis
  • * Gallaudet University joined the NEAC in the 2010–11 academic year.
  • 2011:
  • * Lancaster Bible College joined the NEAC in the 2011–12 academic year.
  • ** Rutgers–Camden added men's tennis to its NEAC associate membership in the 2012 spring season.
  • 2012:
  • * The partnership between the NEAC and the NAC ended for baseball and women's lacrosse after the 2011–12 academic year.
  • * Hilbert College joined the NEAC as an associate member for men's lacrosse in the 2013 spring season.
  • 2013:
  • * Penn State–Harrisburg left the NEAC to join the Capital Athletic Conference after the 2012–13 academic year.
  • * Cedar Crest College joined the NEAC as an associate member for women's swimming in the 2013–14 academic year.
  • 2014:
  • * Rutgers–Camden left the NEAC as an associate member for men's tennis after the 2014 spring season.
  • * Wilson added men's sports into its athletic program in the 2014–15 academic year.
  • * Bryn Athyn College and the Pennsylvania College of Technology joined the NEAC in the 2014–15 academic year.
  • * The NEAC added men's volleyball along with four institutions as associate members for that sport in the 2015 spring season.
  • 2017 – Hilbert left the NEAC as an associate member for men's volleyball after the 2017 spring season.
  • 2018:
  • * D'Youville, Medaille and Penn State–Altoona left the NEAC as associate members for men's volleyball after the 2018 spring season.
  • * Bryn Athyn and Wilson left the NEAC to join the CSAC after the 2017–18 academic year.
  • 2019:
  • * Saint Elizabeth left the NEAC to join the CSAC after the 2018–19 academic year.
  • * Penn State–Harrisburg rejoined the NEAC in the 2019–20 academic year.
  • * The State University of New York at Potsdam joined the NEAC as an associate member for men's volleyball in the 2020 spring season.
  • 2020:
  • * Three institutions left the NEAC as associate members, all effective after the 2019–20 academic year:
  • ** Alfred State for men's lacrosse
  • ** Cedar Crest for women's swimming
  • ** and SUNY Potsdam for men's volleyball
  • * Four institutions left the NEAC to join their respective new home primary conferences, all effective after the 2019–20 academic year:
  • ** Cazenovia, SUNY Cobleskill and SUNY Poly for the NAC
  • ** and Keuka for the Empire 8 Athletic Conference
  • * Two institutions joined the NEAC as associate members, both effective in the 2020–21 academic year:
  • ** La Roche University for men's and women's lacrosse
  • ** and Mount Aloysius College for men's lacrosse
  • 2021:
  • * St. Mary's College of Maryland joined the NEAC in the 2021–22 academic year.
  • * Rosemont College joined the NEAC as an associate member for men's golf, both effective in the 2022 spring season.
  • * The NEAC was re-branded as the United East Conference, beginning the 2021–22 academic year.
  • 2022:
  • * Clarks Summit rejoined the United East as an associate member for men's golf and men's tennis in the 2023 spring season.
  • * The United East Conference and the Colonial States Athletic Conference announced their intent to merge, beginning with the 2023–24 academic year.
  • 2023:
  • * Four institutions left the United East as associate members, all effective after the 2022–23 academic year:
  • ** Hilbert for men's lacrosse
  • ** La Roche and Medaille for men's and women's lacrosse
  • ** Mount Aloysius for women's lacrosse
  • * Two institutions left the United East to join their respective new home primary conferences, both effective after the 2022–23 academic year:
  • ** SUNY Morrisville to the NAC
  • ** and Wells to the AMCC
  • * The United East and the CSAC officially announced that the merged conference would retain the United East name, officially ending the CSAC on July 1. Consequently, all ten members from the CSAC joined the United East as full members, beginning the 2023–24 academic year. Clarks Summit, Keystone, Cairn, Wilson, Saint Elizabeth and Bryn Athyn were all former full members at one point during their tenure within the United East before the rebrand in 2021.
  • * Pennsylvania State University at Erie, The Behrend College joined the United East as an associate member for men's and women's indoor and outdoor track & field, both effective in the 2023–24 academic year.
  • 2024:
  • * Alfred State and Penn State–Behrend left the United East as associate members for men's and women's indoor and outdoor track & field after the 2023–24 academic year.
  • * Clarks Summit left the United East after the 2023–24 academic year; after it abruptly ceased operations.
  • * Pennsylvania State University Brandywine joined the United East in the 2024–25 academic year; the first new member after the merger.
  • * Neumann University joined the United East as an associate member for men's volleyball in the 2025 season spring.
  • 2025:
  • * Bryn Athyn left the United East after the 2024–25 academic year; as the school announced that it would discontinue all athletic programs.
  • * Saint Elizabeth left the United East to join the AEC after the 2025–26 academic year.
  • * Immaculata University joined the United East as an associate member for men's volleyball in the 2026 season spring.
  • 2026:
  • * Rosemont will leave the United East after the 2025–26 academic year; as the school announce that it would merge with Villanova University beginning in 2027, and would transition its athletic programs to a club model.
  • *United East and Atlantic East Conference will make a partnership in field hockey to field a 8-team league. Immaculata and Gwynedd Mercy University from Atlantic East will join as affiliate members in field hockey.