The SCIAC will add Azusa Pacific University as a 10^th full-time member, the conference announced through President Strom Thacker of Pitzer College, Athletic Administrators chair Erica Perkins Jasper of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges and Commissioner Jenn Dubow.
 
The Presidents Council unanimously supported the addition of APU, currently an NCAA Division II member, to the SCIAC following the conference's established vetting procedures. With the Division III reclassification process now able to be completed within as few as two years, APU is expected to become a full-fledged member for the 2028-29 academic year but will be integrated into conference scheduling as soon as 2026-27.
 
"We were pleased to invite Azusa Pacific University to become a member of the SCIAC," President Thacker said. "President Morris and the leadership at APU are eager to become partners in our shared vision for the Division III student-athlete experience. We look forward to continuing to provide unparalleled opportunities for our students to succeed academically and athletically in a respectful environment."
 
As part of the move, APU also has announced the return of its football program discontinued in 2020. They plan to field a team in Fall 2026 when Whittier College also reinstates its football program, bringing the conference back to eight teams.
 
"Azusa Pacific will make a fantastic addition to the SCIAC and further position us as a leading conference in Division III," Commissioner Dubow said. "Their rising academic profile, competitive excellence and commitment to the true student-athlete experience all fit well within our regularly assessed membership criteria and we were thrilled to be able to welcome them to DIII."
 
APU, whose mascot is the Cougar, has finished in the Top 20 of the DII Learfield Directors Cup standings in seven of the past eight years after winning a record eight consecutive trophies as an NAIA member until 2012. Founded in 1899, Azusa Pacific University, a top Christian higher education institution, is located 20+ miles northeast of Los Angeles and offers more than 100 degree options from bachelor's to doctorate in liberal arts and professional programs. APU currently offers 18 varsity sports with a traditional undergraduate enrollment of 2,266 students. With the addition of football, APU will expand to 19 varsity sports beginning in Fall 2026 and will consider other additions that fit the SCIAC sport sponsorship portfolio, currently at 21 sports.
 
"As a proud member of SCIAC, APU is thrilled to join other top Southern California universities that share our commitment to providing a well-rounded educational experience, where students can excel in the classroom and in athletics," President Adam J. Morris, PhD, said. "We are confident that our transition to Division III will allow us to maintain this balance while continuing our athletic excellence in all sports."
 
"The move to the SCIAC will extend APU Athletics' culture of excellence, where student-athletes are empowered to reach their given potential academically, athletically and spiritually," Gary Pine, APU Director of Athletics, said. "In the days we all competed in the NAIA, some of the most memorable games in Cougar sports history were played against longtime SCIAC foes and we are excited to be a part of those renewed rivalries again."
 
The addition of APU will mark the third expansion of the SCIAC in the past 35 years. The conference most recently expanded from eight to nine members with the addition of former DIII independent Chapman University in 2011. The Panthers had reclassified from DII in 1994 and committed to add four sports with their move to the SCIAC. California Lutheran University joined the conference in 1991, reclassifying directly from DII.
 
"We are excited to welcome APU into the SCIAC as our 10^th member," Erica Perkins Jasper, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Director of Athletics and current chair of the SCIAC Athletic Administrators, said. "They are committed to the holistic student-athlete model and will further elevate the conference competitively. It also allows us to keep our tight footprint which is a significant drawing point for recruits as they do not have to spend a single night away from campus for conference competition."
 
The SCIAC continues to be a leader in Division III in the classroom and in competition. Academically, the SCIAC garnered College Sports Communicators All-America honors with two team members of the year, seven First Team, eight Second Team and six Third team recipients in 2023-24 in addition to 363 student-athletes receiving Academic All-District honors. Member institutions captured five team and four individual national titles in 2023-24. Overall, the conference has won national titles in 11 team sports across six different institutions and eight of nine SCIAC institutions have won an NCAA team or individual title since 2013.

Founded in 1915, the SCIAC still retains its five original members in Caltech, Occidental College, Pomona College, University of Redlands and Whittier College. The University of La Verne first joined in 1926 before departing with UCSB in 1938, but then rejoined in 1971. Claremont McKenna and Harvey Mudd Colleges combined to form the remaining athletic program, now also associated with Scripps College, in 1958. The rich tradition of the conference also includes three current DI institutions among its former members: San Diego State (Teachers College at the time), the University of California Santa Barbara and UCLA (then known as the Southern Branch of the University of California).
 
SCIAC timeline
 
The SCIAC and its member institutions are committed to the fostering of the ideals of amateur sports within an environment of high academic standards. The members of the conference value the ways in which athletic competition and the development of physical skills and ideals of sportsmanship can be seen as supporting the intellectual and social growth of their students. It encourages a vision of intercollegiate competition that emphasizes and takes advantage of the close proximity of its institutions, their similarity in missions, and their shared perspectives on education.
 
The Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference was formed in 1915 when five Southern California institutions combined for the purpose of promoting and governing competition in intercollegiate sports with the fundamental principle of the conference being to encourage the highest ideals of amateur sports in an environment of high academic standards.
 
 

---

Follow the SCIAC on Threads (@theSCIAC), X - formerly Twitter (@theSCIAC) and Instagram (@thesciac) with hashtags #SCIACtion and #SoCalSoGood. Watch all home SCIAC games, matches, and meets online through FloSports: https://flosports.link/SCIAC