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Great Northeast Athletic Conference

Association	NCAA
Founded	1995
Commissioner	Joe Walsh (since 2005)
Sports fielded	22 men's: 11 women's: 11
Division	Division III
No. of teams	15 (14 in 2025)
Headquarters	Winthrop, Massachusetts
Region	New England
Official website	thegnac.com
Locations

The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference which competes in the Division III ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

History

Chronological timeline

• 1995 – In 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) was founded. Charter members included the following: On men's sports and women's sports, Albertus Magnus College, Daniel Webster College, Emerson College, Endicott College, Johnson & Wales University, Rhode Island Campus and Rivier College (now Rivier University); on women's sports only, Emmanuel College, Pine Manor College, the University of Saint Joseph, Simmons College (now Simmons University) and Suffolk University, all beginning the 1995–96 academic year.
• 1998 – Norwich University, Southern Vermont College and Western New England College (now Western New England University) joined the GNAC in the 1998–99 academic year.
• 1998 – Suffolk's men's sports joined the GNAC in the 1998–99 academic year.
• 1999 – Endicott left the GNAC to join the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) after the 1998–99 academic year.
• 2001 – Emmanuel (Mass.) added men's sports in its athletic program to join the GNAC in the 2001–02 academic year.
• 2007 – Western New England left the GNAC to join the CCC after the 2006–07 academic year.
• 2007 – Lasell College (now Lasell University) and Mount Ida College and Saint Joseph's College of Maine joined the GNAC in the 2007–08 academic year.
• 2008 – Daniel Webster and Southern Vermont left the GNAC to join the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) after the 2007–08 academic year.
• 2008 – Four institutions joined the GNAC as associate members: Rhode Island College and the University of Southern Maine for men's golf, and Elms College and Husson University for men's and women's swimming & diving, all effective in the 2008–09 academic year.
• 2011 – Anna Maria College joined the GNAC in the 2011–12 academic year.
• 2011 – Wentworth Institute of Technology (Wentworth Tech) joined the GNAC as an associate member for men's volleyball in the 2012 spring season (2011–12 academic year).
• 2012 – Pine Manor left the GNAC to join the Great South Athletic Conference (GSAC) after the 2011–12 academic year.
• 2012 – The University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth (UMass–Dartmouth) joined the GNAC as an associate member for men's golf in the 2013 spring season (2012–13 academic year).
• 2013 – Emerson left the GNAC to join the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) after the 2012–13 academic year.
• 2017 – Regis College joined the GNAC in the 2017–18 academic year.
• 2018 – Mount Ida left the GNAC due to the school announcing that it would close after the 2017–18 academic year.
• 2018 – Colby–Sawyer College joined the GNAC in the 2018–19 academic year.
• 2018 – Eastern Nazarene College joined the GNAC as an associate member for men's tennis in the 2019 spring season (2018–19 academic year).
• 2018 – Saint Joseph (Conn.) added men's sports in its athletic program to join the GNAC in the 2018–19 academic year.
• 2020 – Eastern Nazarene left the GNAC as an associate member for men's tennis after the 2020 spring season (2019–20 academic year).
• 2020 – Dean College joined the GNAC in the 2020–21 academic year.
• 2021 – Elms had upgraded to join the GNAC for all sports in the 2021–22 academic year.
• 2021 – The University of New England joined the GNAC as an associate member for women's swimming & diving in the 2021–22 academic year.
• 2022 – New England (Me.) left the GNAC as an associate member for women's swimming & diving after the 2021–22 academic year.
• 2023 – Mitchell College and New England College joined the GNAC in the 2023–24 academic year.
• 2024 – Johnson & Wales (RI) will leave the GNAC to will join the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC), beginning the 2024–25 academic year.
• 2024 – Anna Maria will leave the GNAC to join the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC), beginning the 2025–26 academic year..

Member schools

Current members

The GNAC currently has fifteen full members, all are private schools:

Notes

1. Anna Maria will join the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) beginning the 2025–26 academic year.
2. ^ This institution is a former women's college, which has eventually turned into a co-educational college (Lasell since 1997–98, Elms since 1998–99, Emmanuel (Mass.) since 2001–02, Regis (Mass.) since 2007–08 and Saint Joseph (Conn.) since 2018–19).
3. Before joining for full membership, Elms competed in the GNAC as an associate member for swimming and diving from 2008–09 to 2020–21.
4. This institution is a women's college, therefore it does not compete in men's sports.
5. Non-basketball member.

Associate members

The GNAC currently has five associate members, all but two are private schools:

Former members

The GNAC had nine former full members, all were private schools:

Notes

1. This institution is a former women's college, which has eventually turned into a co-educational college (Pine Manor from 2014–15).
2. Pine Manor was acquired by Boston College in 2021.

Former associate members

The GNAC had two former associate members, which were also private schools:

Membership timeline

Sports

Conference sports

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	Y
Basketball	Y	Y
Cross country	Y	Y
Field hockey		Y
Golf	Y
Lacrosse	Y	Y
Soccer	Y	Y
Softball		Y
Swimming & diving	Y	Y
Tennis	Y	Y
Track & field	Y	Y
Volleyball	Y	Y

References

1. "UNE Women Join GNAC Swimming & Diving as Associate Member" (Press release). Great Northeast Athletic Conference. August 24, 2021. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
2. "University of New England Women's Swimming to Join LEC as Affiliate Member in 2022-23" (Press release). Little East Conference. June 16, 2022. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
3. "Mitchell, NEC Joining GNAC in 2023-24 Academic Year" (Press release). Great Northeast Athletic Conference. September 28, 2022. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
4. "Elms, GNAC Ready to Begin Conference Affiliation in 2021-22". Great Northeast Athletic Conference. April 7, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2021.

External links

• Official website

• Great Northeast Athletic Conference