By Ryan Ostry
Bugle Staff
@RyanOstry_BR18
rostry@buglenewspapers.com
The NCAA Division II Membership Committee announced July 13, 2018 that Benedictine University has been granted access to the NCAA Division II membership process, thus paving the way for the Eagles to become the 16th member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) prior to the 2019-20 academic year.
“In January of 2017 we formed a committee on campus to review the process of making a decision from Benedictine jumping from [Division] three to [Division] two,” Benedictine Athletics Director Mark McHorney said. “At the end of the meeting we wanted to present the situation to the board of trustees, and after it reached the president we showed all of our findings.”
Benedictine Athletics Posters
On February 1, 2018, Benedictine successfully submitted application for NCAA Division II membership.
A multiyear venture, the NCAA Division II membership process prepares applying institutions for a successful transition. The provisional process for Benedictine is a minimum of three years that includes opportunities for education, assessment and growth, as well as a chance to fully integrate the Division II philosophy, strategic positioning platform and best practices to be a successful Division II institution.
“The GLVC Council of Presidents is pleased to welcome Benedictine University as our next member, following our unanimous endorsement of the recommendation from the league’s faculty athletic representatives last fall,” Dr. Rob Manuel, University of Indianapolis President and Chair of the GLVC Council of Presidents said in a press release.
During interim year one of the membership process (2018-19), Benedictine will still compete in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC), Midwest Lacrosse Conference (MLC), and the Midwest Women’s Lacrosse Conference (MWLC).
Due to acceptance into the Division II membership process, Benedictine will not be eligible to compete in NCAA DIII Championships, however the Eagles are eligible to win regular-season league titles and can also have student-athletes earn All-Conference honors.
During this time, Benedictine will begin implementing Division II policies and procedures, but will not offer student-athletes any athletic scholarships.
“We want to distinguish Benedictine as a first class, Catholic and liberal arts program that is one of the best here in the Midwest,” McHorney said. “We know that the move to Division-II will expand our recruiting markets athletically and this change puts our name in these markets such as Indianapolis, St. Louis and Chicagoland much differently then if we were in Division-III.”
After successful completion of the third and final provisional year of the transition (2020-21), Benedictine will become active members of NCAA Division II, enabling its teams and student-athletes the ability to compete in all GLVC and NCAA Championships.
Benedictine currently has 19 sports, 17 of which are offered by the GLVC, including all seven of the league’s core sports: baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, and volleyball.
The Eagles will also compete under the GLVC banner in men’s and women’s cross country, football, men’s and women’s golf, men’s lacrosse, and men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field.
They do not have four GLVC sports, including men’s and women’s swimming and diving and men’s and women’s tennis. The GLVC also does not sponsor two additional Benedictine sports in men’s volleyball and women’s lacrosse, although the league is hopeful to begin sponsoring the latter in the near future.
“For us, there is now just five schools in the state of Illinois with a Division-II program which makes this a big deal,” McHorney said. “There’s just an incredible amount of opportunity for our university with this move, and we can’t wait to get started.”