The America East
Conference
By Matt Shetler
The America East Conference was
founded in 1979, consisting of nine members in Northeastern,
United States. The conference participates in twenty-one men’s
and women’s Division I sports. The America’s East headquarters
are located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and its commissioner is
Patrick Nero.
From its inception, it was know as the ECAC North until 1988.
After that, it became the North Atlantic Conference, a name it
would keep until 1996. Four of its charter members are still in
the conference: Boston University, the University of Maine, the
University of New Hampshire and the University of Vermont.
The University of Hartford joined in 1985 and three schools were
added in 2001: the University at Albany, Binghamton University
and Stony Brook University. The final member was added in 2003,
the University of Maryland Baltimore County.
Several schools have been members of the conference at one time
or another, including: Rhode Island, Holy Cross, Canisius,
Niagara, Siena, Colgate, Central Connecticut State, Delaware,
Drexel, Hofstra and Towson.
Perhaps the America East Conference best moment on a national
stage occurred in 2005, when the Vermont Catamounts upset the
Syracuse Orangemen in the NCAA Tournament.
