Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference

The Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, headquartered in Livonia, Michigan. The conference consists of twelve colleges and universities located in the U.S. states of Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. Founded in 1992, the conference was created as a successor group for the now-defunct NAIA District 23.

History

The WHAC announced on January 27, 2012, added bowling and lacrosse for both men and women as conference sports effective the fall of 2012, becoming the first NAIA conference to offer championships in these sports.
Men's ice hockey was added as a conference sport effective the fall of 2017, making the WHAC the first conference in the NAIA to offer ice hockey as a conference championship sport. Initially, the five conference members that sponsor ice hockey will participate in a conference championship.

Chronological timeline

1992 – The Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference was founded. Charter members included Aquinas College, Concordia College Ann Arbor, Cornerstone College, Siena Heights College, Spring Arbor College and Tri-State University, beginning the 1992–93 academic year.
1997 – Madonna University joined the WHAC in the 1997–98 academic year.
1998 – Indiana Institute of Technology joined the WHAC in the 1998–99 academic year.
2003 – Tri-State left the WHAC and the NAIA to join the Division III ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as an NCAA D-III Independent after the 2002–03 academic year.
2004 – Spring Arbor left the WHAC to join the Mid-Central College Conference after the 2003–04 academic year.
2004 – The University of Michigan–Dearborn joined the WHAC in the 2004–05 academic year.
2005 – Davenport University joined the WHAC in the 2005–06 academic year.
2010 – The University of Northwestern Ohio joined the WHAC in the 2010–11 academic year.
2011 – Lourdes University joined the WHAC in the 2011–12 academic year.
2012 – Lawrence Technological University and Marygrove College joined the WHAC in the 2012–13 academic year.
2016 – Two institutions joined the WHAC as affiliate members, both effective in the 2016–17 academic year:
* Rochester College for baseball
* and former full member Spring Arbor for men's and women's bowling
2017 – Davenport left the WHAC and the NAIA to join the NCAA Division II ranks and the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference after the 2016–17 academic year.
2017 – Rochester had joined the WHAC for all sports in the 2017–18 academic year.
2017 – Marygrove left the WHAC as the school announced that it would close at the end of the fall 2017 semester, which occurred during the 2017–18 academic year.
2018 – Cleary University joined the WHAC in the 2018–19 academic year.
2018 – Four institutions joined the WHAC as affiliate members, all effective in the 2019 spring season :
* Bethel University of Indiana for women's lacrosse
* Goshen College for men's volleyball
* Huntington University for men's and women's bowling
* and Taylor University for men's lacrosse
2019 – Two institutions joined the WHAC as affiliate members, all effective in the 2019 spring season :
* Mount Vernon Nazarene University for men's and women's bowling
* Spring Arbor for competitive cheer and dance
* and Taylor for women's lacrosse
2020 – Three institutions left the WHAC as affiliate members, all effective after the 2019–20 academic year:
* Mount Vernon Nazarene for men's and women's bowling
* Spring Arbor for competitive cheer and dance
* and Taylor for women's lacrosse
2020 – Five institutions joined the WHAC as affiliate members, all effective in the 2020–21 academic year:
* Bethel for men's and women's bowling
* Brescia University and Point Park University for competitive cheer
* Marian University for men's wrestling
* and Mount Vernon Nazarene for men's volleyball
2021 – Bethel, Huntington and Spring Arbor left the WHAC as affiliate members for men's and women's bowling after the 2020–21 academic year.
2022 – Three institutions joined the WHAC as affiliate members, all effective in the 2022–23 academic year:
* Bethel and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College for men's volleyball
* and Marian for women's lacrosse
2023 – Brescia left the WHAC as an affiliate member for competitive cheer after the 2022–23 academic year.
2023 – Marian added competitive dance to its WHAC affiliate membership in the 2023–24 academic year:
2024 – Two institutions left the WHAC as affiliate members, both effective after the 2023–24 academic year:
* Point Park for competitive cheer to join the NCAA Division II ranks and the Mountain East Conference
* and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods for men's volleyball
2024 – Defiance College joined the WHAC in the 2024–25 academic year.
2024 – Two institutions joined the WHAC as affiliate members, both effective in the 2024–25 academic year:
* The University of St. Francis for men's and women's bowling
* and Saint Xavier University for eSports
2024 – Concordia–Ann Arbor announced that they would be discontinuing all athletic programs and leaving the WHAC at the end of the 2024–25 academic year.
2025 – Siena Heights will leave the WHAC as the school announced that it would close at the end of the 2025–26 academic year.
Member schools

Current members

The WHAC currently has 12 full members, all but one are private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Basketball?
Aquinas College	Grand Rapids, Michigan	1886	Catholic	1,295	Saints	1992	both
Cleary University	Howell, Michigan	1883	Nonsectarian	1,040	Cougars	2018	both
Cornerstone University	Grand Rapids, Michigan	1941	Interdenominational	1,735	Golden Eagles	1992	both
Defiance College	Defiance, Ohio	1850	United Church	511	Yellow Jackets	2024	both
Indiana Institute of Technology	Fort Wayne, Indiana	1930	Nonsectarian	2,862	Warriors	1998	both
Lawrence Technological University	Southfield, Michigan	1932	Nonsectarian	3,260	Blue Devils	2012	both
Lourdes University	Sylvania, Ohio	1958	Catholic	1,014	Gray Wolves	2011	both
Madonna University	Livonia, Michigan	1930	Catholic	2,054	Crusaders	1997	both
	Dearborn, Michigan	1959	Public	8,035	Wolverines	2004	both
	Lima, Ohio	1920	Nonsectarian	2,606	Racers	2010	both
Rochester Christian University	Rochester Hills, Michigan	1959	Churches of Christ	1,173	Warriors	2017	both
Siena Heights University	Adrian, Michigan	1919	Catholic	1,832	Saints	1992	both

;Notes

Affiliate members

The WHAC currently has seven affiliate members, all are private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	WHAC sport	Current conference
Bethel University	Mishawaka, Indiana	1947	Missionary	1,222	Pilots	2018 2022	women's lacrosse men's volleyball	Crossroads
Goshen College	Goshen, Indiana	1894	Mennonite	824	Maple Leafs	2018	men's volleyball	Crossroads
Marian University	Indianapolis, Indiana	1851	Catholic	3,586	Knights	2020 2022 2023	men's wrestling women's lacrosse competitive dance	Crossroads
Mount Vernon Nazarene University	Mount Vernon, Ohio	1964	Nazarene	1,845	Cougars	2020	men's volleyball	Crossroads
	Joliet, Illinois	1920	Catholic	3,185	Fighting Saints	2024 2024	men's bowling women's bowling	Chicagoland
Saint Xavier University	Chicago, Illinois	1846	Catholic	3,457	Cougars	2024	eSports	Chicagoland
Taylor University	Upland, Indiana	1846	Nondenominational	2,398	Trojans	2018	men's lacrosse	Crossroads

;Notes:

Former members

The WHAC had five former full members, all were private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Left	Current conference
Concordia University Ann Arbor	Ann Arbor, Michigan	1963	Lutheran LCMS	1,351	Cardinals	1992	2025	N/A
Davenport University	Grand Rapids, Michigan	1866	Nonsectarian	4,848	Panthers	2005	2017	Great Lakes
Marygrove College	Detroit, Michigan	1899	Catholic	N/A	Mustangs	2012	2018	Closed in 2019
Spring Arbor University	Spring Arbor, Michigan	1873	Free Methodist	2,390	Cougars	1992	2004	Crossroads
Tri-State University	Angola, Indiana	1884	Nonsectarian	4,471	Thunder	1992	2003	Michigan