Roosevelt Officially Joins GLIAC As 11th Member
BAY CITY, Mich. – Roosevelt University is officially the 11th member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, the school and league jointly announced Monday.
The announcement is the culmination of a nearly two-year process designed to assess Roosevelt's readiness to move to Division II of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The Lakers were approved as provisional members of the GLIAC on August 2, 2022 then applied to be an NCAA Division II member in February 2023. Roosevelt was approved into the first year of the provisional membership process in July 2023 and the school will learn if it moves onto the second year of the process on July 11.
The Lakers join the GLIAC after 14 seasons as a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, almost all of which came as part of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference. Roosevelt competes in 14 sports sponsored by the conference -- baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, football, men's golf, men's and women's soccer, softball, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's track & field and women's volleyball. Men's volleyball will also join the NCAA and a future conference home will be announced at a later date.
"This is a great day for Roosevelt Athletics as joining the GLIAC, a conference widely considered to be best in all of NCAA Division II, is another milestone in the continued growth of our department," Vice President for Athletics and Student-Athlete Success Michael Cassidy said. "While this move will be a step up in competition for our athletic programs, it is also an opportunity to collaborate and connect with fellow conference coaches and administrators to ensure we are optimizing the experience of our student-athletes. I am grateful for the support provided already by GLIAC leadership, and specifically thank Commissioner Kris Dunbar and Associate Commissioner Michael Pierce for their guidance the last year-plus as we pursued the marker reached today.
"In my initial interactions with current GLIAC members, I could not have felt more welcomed. I look forward to starting our competitions as proud GLIAC members this fall."
The GLIAC was founded in 1972 with five charter members, all of which were in Michigan and four of which still reside in the league. The conference still has eight members from Michigan – Davenport (Grand Rapids), Ferris State (Big Rapids), Grand Valley State (Allendale), Lake Superior State (Sault Ste. Marie), Michigan Tech (Houghton), Northern Michigan (Marquette), Saginaw Valley State (University Center) and Wayne State (Detroit) – as well as Wisconsin Parkside in Kenosha, Wis. and Purdue Northwest in Hammond, Ind.
Roosevelt will be immediately eligible to compete for GLIAC championships, including participation in any conference tournament for which it qualifies. However, the Lakers will be ineligible for NCAA championships until the school has completed all three years of the provisional membership process.
"This is an exciting day for the GLIAC, as we welcome Roosevelt University to the conference. RU's outstanding academic profile and athletic program are a valuable addition to our league," GLIAC Commissioner Kris Dubar said. "Thank you to President (Ali) Malekzadeh and Vice President for Athletics and Student-Athlete Success Michael) Cassidy for their strong leadership and continued diligence in facilitating a smooth transition. We are thrilled to expand the GLIAC's footprint to the Chicagoland area and we look forward to the rivalries that are sure to be developed with Roosevelt in the years to come."
Roosevelt University is a private institution founded in 1945 on the principles of inclusion and social justice. The school offers 65 undergraduate and 50 graduate and doctoral programs across five colleges. It has more than 4,100 students enrolled in the university with campuses in downtown Chicago and Schaumburg.
The athletics program houses more than 600 student-athletes across 23 sports at the varsity and club levels. In addition to the 15 programs that will compete in the NCAA, the Lakers' three hockey programs compete in the American College Hockey Association, and its bowling teams are affiliated with the United States Bowling Congress. Roosevelt's two-time national champion cheerleading program competes in the National Cheerleaders Association and the dance team competes in the National Dance Alliance. The school also sponsors esports and marching band programs.