Carly McDonald, PAC Commissioner Joe Onderko, Franciscan Director of Athletics Mike Holmes, Liam Galligan, Rebekah Nevarez PAC adds Franciscan as full member 4/16/2019 11:30:00 AM STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (pacathletics.org)--The Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) announced the addition of Franciscan University of Steubenville as the league’s 10th full member Tuesday morning. The formal vote to admit Franciscan as a full-time member was held at the PAC Presidents’ Council meeting in Pittsburgh on April 11. Franciscan will be the PAC’s first full member added since 2007, when both Chatham University and Geneva College were admitted. Currently in its first season as a PAC affiliate member in men’s and women’s lacrosse, Franciscan will compete in women’s golf and men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field during the 2019-20 academic year. Franciscan’s 14 additional NCAA Division III sports will be eligible for PAC championships and all-conference honors in 2020-21. With this year’s addition of men’s and women’s lacrosse the number of PAC-sponsored championship sports sits at 23 (12 men, 11 women). "On behalf of the PAC, we are thrilled to welcome Franciscan University of Steubenville as the newest PAC full member. The PAC Presidents’ Council was very impressed with the school's academic stature and student-centered focus in a faith-based learning environment, as well as its commitment to continuing to develop a broad-based, successful NCAA Division III athletic program,” said PAC Commissioner Joe Onderko, in his 13th year as the league’s top administrator. “We believe they will make a seamless transition to our PAC culture, and look forward to them competing in all PAC championships beginning in the 2020-21 academic year." Franciscan has competed as a member of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) since 2008, winning a combined 21 team championships. The 2020-21 year will be the first for Franciscan to have all of its NCAA-affiliated athletic programs compete under the same conference affiliation. “Varsity athletics is an integral part of the Franciscan University educational experience. Our athletic program is well known for creating a faith-centered environment that promotes ongoing personal conversion and the development of Christian virtues and character. We are excited that this integration of mind and spirit will continue with our new affiliation in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference,” said Franciscan’s president, Fr. Sean Sheridan, TOR. About Franciscan Franciscan University, located approximately 40 miles southwest of Pittsburgh in Steubenville, Ohio, sponsors 19 NCAA Division III sports, including eight men’s programs and 11 women’s programs. As a Catholic university, Franciscan is committed to traditional Catholic values that have been a part of the University's history. These include the development of the human spirit as well as the body, the pursuit of excellence in all endeavors, the fostering of Christian character, the call to personal integrity and the acceptance of personal responsibility. Since being granted provisional NCAA Division III membership in 2007-08 and securing active Division III membership status in 2011-12, Franciscan has embraced a philosophy that a well-rounded athletics program, including intercollegiate, intramural and recreational sports as well as wellness programming, should be offered as a part of its educational mission. The purpose of athletics is to assist students in obtaining a well-rounded education consistent with the University's liberal arts, philosophy and Franciscan tradition. About the PAC A historical look at the PAC [link] The Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), formally organized in 1955 and built on the basic belief that an athletic program is an integral part of college life, but not an entity in itself, looks back on over sixty years of growth and ahead to years of continued academic and athletic excellence. The league's name clearly reflects its founding principle that operational control of all aspects of intercollegiate athletics is ultimately the responsibility of the presidents of each member institution, and thus active presidential leadership and oversight is paramount in conference administration. Currently comprised of nine select private institutions – Bethany College, Chatham University, Geneva College, Grove City College, Saint Vincent College, Thiel College, Washington & Jefferson College, Waynesburg University and Westminster College – the PAC remains a unique organization in this day of high pressure intercollegiate athletics, with academics at the center of each member's philosophy. Carnegie Mellon University and Case Western Reserve University were welcomed back to the PAC as affiliate members in football in 2014-15.