PSAC 75th Anniversary: Historic Timeline

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Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference 

Timeline 

Celebrating the 75th Season of Competition (2025-26) 
 

  • First discussions about creating an organization for the State Normal Schools occurs in 1904 

  • 1920 – The Constitution of the Pennsylvania State Normal School Athletic Association are approved with the objective of promoting "clean sportsmanship and to encourage inter-normal school athletic competition" 

  • PSNAA divided into three "districts" of West, North and South with 13 members listed. Cheyney is notably left out 

  • The three districts would each host annual track and field meet, "girls" participants may occur but they are limited to races not more than 65 yards and hurdles not higher than 2 feet. 

  • 1926 – A new Constitution of the PSNAA is rewritten, led by East Stroudsburg's Dr. Tracy Allen, Principal of the institution 

  • May 1927 – L.P. Hill of Cheyney Training School for Teachers raises the question why they are not included in the Association.  By September, this is remedied by the Principals, but the caveat in the Constitution includes members are not "obligated to participate or enter into any athletic relations with any other members" of the Association 

  • 1928 – key issues facing leadership is accurate score reporting and issues regarding transfer students 

  • November 1929 – Board of Presidents of the State Teachers Colleges adopt requirements that to participate students must be passing 12 hours; also adopt the one-year sit out policy for transfers 

  • 1936 – George Miller of Indiana writes to the Presidents regarding the advantages of creating a conference.  The issue is bantered about for two years but no action taken 

  • December 1938 – The Athletic Directors meet to work on scheduling among members, in total 42 events are scheduled to be contested among agreeable institutions.  No one is required to play anyone though. 

  • 1942-45: World War II occurs and very little, if any, competitions occur 

  • December 1, 1947 – Board of Presidents of the State Teachers Colleges adopt proposal to form an Athletic Conference. Nothing occurs for two years as discussion held about who bears the cost of such an undertaking 

  • March 11, 1951 – A constitution governing the Pennsylvania State Teachers Colleges Athletic Conference is approved with a two-year probationary period in place to review further continuance 

  • September 21, 1951 – The Board of Presidents of the State Teachers Colleges formally approves the Constitution and the Conference begins 

  • First Executive Committee of the PSTCAC is George Miller (Indiana) President; Oscar Liljenstein (E. Stroud), Vice President; and John Hock (Bloomsburg), Secretary/Treasurer 

  • First membership dues are set at $40 per institution.  Harry Straw of Shippensburg was named the statistician. 

  • December 1951 - Tennis and Swimming added as conference sports in addition to track, soccer, basketball and football. 

  • May 1952, Waldo Tippin of Clarion raises the question about how Conference should handle the eligibility of Korean War Veterans.  Conference's accepts NCAA rules for Veterans and an influx of vets finds their way onto many athletic teams across the membership. 

  • December 1952, Merle Agnello of Johnstown hired as statistician at salary of $300 with additional $200 for expenses. 

  • 1953 – Millersville's Daniel Biemsderfer motions to remove the probationary status of the Conference which passes 

  • From 1951 to 1953, the "districts" are not used and the Conference employs the "Rocky Mountain Point System" to determine champions.  To earn points in the system teams must play a minimum number of contests against other Conference members (Football – 4; Basketball – 8; Baseball – 4; Soccer – 2).  A meet for wrestling and track and field would determine conference champions in those sports. 

  • The Rocky Mountain System had its critics and the Conference then adopted the Saylor System, created by a Penn State University economist to determine a rating point system to determine champions. In addition to the football, basketball and baseball minimums above, Soccer, Tennis, Golf and Swimming were all set with a three contest minimum 

  • Clarion's Waldo Tippin urges members to consider movement to a two-division format during this time rather than a three district format with no required scheduling. 

  • May 1954, uniform policies for the hiring of basketball and football officials were established. 

  • By August 1956 Divisions are created, 6 members in the West and 8 members in the East, Shippensburg then moved to the West but only for basketball in 1958. 

  • A Men's Golf Championship would begin being contested in Spring 1957. 

  • A Men's Cross Country Championship is added for the Fall of 1958. 

  • 1960 – The Pennsylvania State Legislature creates "State Colleges", dropping "Teachers" from the campus names.  The Conference follows and renames the league the "Pennsylvania State Colleges Athletic Conference" 

  • By April of 1960, all 14 campuses participate as members of the National Association Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Some have chosen dual membership in the NCAA including Bloomsburg, Lock Haven, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester.  Membership numbers in each association fluctuate until 1973 when all are members of the NCAA, with a few NAIA members. 

  • February 1966 – Most likely out of political envy, the Board of Presidents strips Indiana of its membership privileges after it receives "University" status from the PA State Legislature.  By the Fall of 1971, under the leadership of Athletic Director Herm Sledzik, Indiana returns to full membership in the Conference 

  • West Chester had also joined the Middle Atlantic Conference in 1958 to associate with many of the Philadelphia area schools that are now Division I.  By 1971 in response to dwindling participation in events by West Chester, the Conference adopts a policy that requires entry in their events or face a year of ineligibility in all events a year later. 

  • From 1930s until early 1970s women's sports were primarily regulated to intramural competition on campus or "play days" in which women from various campuses would come together to compete in a variety of sports and activities.   

  • The NCAA grants Automatic Qualification to the Division II men's basketball tournament for March 1974 but the conference postpones acceptance of the AQ for a year because several members are still in the NAIA and they are concerned about losing a chance to play in that tournament instead. 

  • November of 1974, the very first specific discussions to include women's teams in Conference activities occurs and is met with limited enthusiasm, despite the passage of Title IX in 1972 

  • In the early 1970s state employees were granted option to collectively bargain. In the 1974 contract with faculty, the PA Department of Education includes the position of Director of Equal Opportunity in Sport (DEOS) on each campus.  The position reports directly to DOE in Harrisburg.  Secretary of Education John Pittenger felt as though campuses were being too slow in affirmative action programming and activities and thus forced campus hands in this area with this position.  The DOE was "committed to the elimination of practices, policies and programs which result in the limited participation for women and minority students in college athletic programs" 

  • October 28, 1974, Millersville's Assistant Athletic Director Marge Trout was named the first DEOS on a member campus. 

  • By Fall of 1975, member institutions had varied Divisional status in the NCAA as "divisions" had just been created in the Association.  West Chester was designated by the NCAA as Division I, but football was Division II.  In total 8 members are in Division II and 5 others in Division III.  A few members, particularly in the Western Division are also members of the NAIA.  

  • The Divisional alignment debate rages through 1976 when the Cheyney Athletic Director makes four different motions to align the entire conference in one affiliation.  For Division II – defeated; for Division III – defeated; for allowing DII/DIII option – defeated and for NAIA/NCAA membership – defeated. The debate continued.  

  • Over a debate of whether PSCAC members should conduct Spring Football Practice, which is adopted as policy, West Chester resigns from the Conference in March 1977.   

  • November 1979, East Stroudsburg head football coach Denny Douds speaks to the Athletic Directors encouraging a single level membership and national association affiliation.  IUP Athletic Director Herm Sledzik forwards a motion that by Fall 1980 all Conference members would align to NCAA Division II and permit Spring Football practice.  The motion passes 8 to 5. 

  • From 1974 to 1977, women's sports development moved ahead marginally, until February 1977 when Dr. William Duncan of Millersville, under the urging of Marge Trout, pushed the Board of Presidents to conduct a study regarding the inclusion of women in the Conference structure. Following a study in the Fall of 1977 a Committee was formed to rewrite the Conference's Constitution to include women's athletics, which was led by Duncan 

  • The new Constitution, included "Divisions" for both men and women with separate regulations operating each Division, but with some over-arching governance.  The Board of Presidents adopted this new Constitution in the Fall of 1977.  Each "Division" (Men's or Women's) would alternate the presidency of the over-arching Conference, and as a result Marge Trout became the first female president of an athletic conference in the U.S.  The Sporting News reported the tenure of Trout with an article entitled "And Now a Gal Conference Boss" in April 1978. 

  • Spring 1980, Conference votes that all member institutions must be in NCAA Division II.  

  • By May 1980, the Athletic Directors request a conference-wide policy that would require 100 full scholarship waivers for member athletic departments…..this motion fails at the Presidential level 

  • By May 1981, under the leadership of Athletics Director Dick Yoder, West Chester returns to full membership in the Conference 

  • Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education formed in 1983 elevating all member institutions to "University" status. 

  • July 1983, PSAC hires first commissioner, Don Kelley, former Athletic Director of Illinois State University.  Kelley would serve until 1989.  Kelley establishes the first conference office in Hershey, PA. 

  • Fall 1989, Kelley is replaced as Commissioner by Charles "Tod" Eberle, former Athletic Director of Lock Haven University where he also served as a professor in the Physical Education department. 

  • Fall 1993, Steve Murray hired as first full-time Sports Information Director for Conference operations. 

  • Fall 1994, Women's Soccer added as newest Conference sport with East Stroudsburg winning the first title in November. 

  • Murray appointed interim Commissioner in Summer of 1997 and moved to the full-time position in Spring 1998. 

  • 2000-01, PSAC celebrates 50th Anniversary by selecting 50 Greatest Moments in Conference History 

  • PSAC adds Indoor Track and Field as its 21st and 22nd championships with Lock Haven sweeping both titles in a 2002 event contested at Lehigh University. 

  • Spring 2006, Mansfield elects to drop Football as an NCAA sport, leaving the Conference with 13 members playing football.  Long Island University – CW Post joins the PSAC as an Associate Member in football and field hockey and will compete through the Fall 2012 seasons in both sports. 

  • Spring 2007, Gannon and Mercyhurst announced as the first full members of the Conference that are not state-owned institutions.  Both institutions begin competition in the Fall of 2008 

  • Fall 2008, PSAC's newest sport added as a Women's Golf Championship is contested and won by California 

  • Summer 2010, PSAC incorporates as a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation, severing ties with the PA State System of Higher Education as an affiliated organization.  

  • Fall 2013, Seton Hill and Pitt-Johnstown join as members of the PSAC 

  • 2017-18, Cheyney completes its last year of membership and drops enrollment in the NCAA Division II and thus resigns from the PSAC. 

  • 2019, For the first time in the Conference's history, a full member from outside the boundaries of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania joins the PSAC as Shepherd University of West Virginia joins. 

  • April 2024, Mercyhurst resigns its membership in the PSAC to join membership in NCAA Division I and the Northeast Conference 

  • June 26, 2025, PSAC invites Lackawanna College to join Division II and the PSAC. 

  • 2025-26, PSAC celebrates 75th Anniversary Season of Competition. 
     


Majority of Notes Taken from: 

A History of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference: An Analysis of Selected Critical Incidents.  

Doctoral Dissertation 

Dr. Allen Hall, University of Akron, 1984