Northwest Conference-The Daily Ledger

The Northwest Conference (NWC) is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member teams are located in the states of Oregon and Washington. It was known as the Pacific Northwest Conference from 1926 to 1984.

History

The NWC was formed in 1926, making it one of the oldest continuously existing athletics conferences in the western United States. For 60 years, the Northwest Conference sponsored sports exclusively for men, but in 1984 it joined with the Women's Conference of Independent Colleges to become the Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges, shortening the name to its current moniker in 1996 when it joined the NCAA.

Northwest Conference

The charter members included Willamette University, Pacific University, Whitman College, the College of Puget Sound (now the University of Puget Sound), Linfield College and the College of Idaho. In 1931, Albany College joined, left in 1938, and re-joined in 1949 using its present name of Lewis & Clark College. Pacific Lutheran University was added in 1965, and Whitworth University in 1970. In 1978, the College of Idaho dropped out of the conference. Whitworth also left in 1984, but then returned in 1988. In 1996, George Fox University joined when the conference moved to the NCAA and Puget Sound re-joined in that same year since 1948. From 2006 to 2010, Menlo College was also a part of the conference as an associate member in football.

Northwest Conference

The College of Idaho reinstated its football program in 2014 after a 37-year hiatus and joined the Frontier Conference for football. C of I is now a member of the NAIA's Cascade Collegiate Conference for other sports. Whitworth left the NWC in 1984 but returned in 1988. George Fox University and Seattle University joined the conference in 1997. Seattle dropped out again in 1999 to become members of NCAA Division II. Menlo College joined the conference in 2005 as a football-only member.

Northwest Conference

Chronlogical timeline

1926 - The NWC was founded as the Pacific Northwest Conference (PNWC). Charter members include the College of Idaho, Linfield College, Pacific University, the College of Puget Sound (now the University of Puget Sound), Whitman College and Willamette University, effective beginning the 1926-27 academic year. 1931 - Albany College (now Lewis & Clark College) joined the PNWC, effective in the 1931-32 academic year. 1938 - Lewis & Clark left the PNWC, effective after the 1937-38 academic year. 1948 - Puget Sound left the PNWC, effective after the 1947-48 academic year. 1949 - Lewis & Clark re-joined back to the PNWC, effective in the 1949-50 academic year. 1965 - Pacific Lutheran College (now Pacific Lutheran University) joined the PNWC, effective in the 1965-66 academic year. 1970 - Whitworth College (now Whitworth University) joined the PNWC, effective in the 1970-71 academic year. 1978 - The College of Idaho left the PNWC, effective after the 1977-78 academic year. 1984 - Whitworth left the PNWC, effective after the 1983-84 academic year. 1984 - The PNWC merged with the Women's Conference of Independent Colleges (WCIC) to become the Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges (NCIC), therefore adding women's sports in the conference, effective in the 1984-85 academic year. 1988 - Whitworth re-joined back to the NCIC, effective in the 1988-89 academic year. 1995 - George Fox College (now George Fox University) joined the NCIC, effective in the 1995-96 academic year. 1996 - Puget Sound re-joined back to the NCIC, effective in the 1996-97 academic year. 1996 - The NCIC has rebranded its name to become the Northwest Conference (NWC), effective in the 1996-97 academic year. 1996 - The NWC has joined full membership in the Division III ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) after years spent in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), effective in the 1996-97 academic year. 1997 - Seattle University joined the NWC, effective in the 1997-98 academic year. 1999 - Seattle left the NWC to join the NCAA Division II ranks and the Pacific West Conference (PacWest), effective after the 1998-99 academic year. 2006 - Menlo College joined the NWC as an associate member for football, effective in the 2006 fall season (2006-07 academic year). 2011 - Menlo left the NWC as an associate member for football, effective after the 2010 fall season (2010-11 academic year).