American Rivers Conference
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| Formerly | Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) |
|---|---|
| Association | NCAA |
| Founded | 1922 |
| Commissioner | Marie Stroman (since 2023) |
| Sports fielded |
|
| Division | Division III |
| No. of teams | 9 (8 in 2026) |
| Headquarters | Cedar Rapids, Iowa |
| Region | Iowa, Nebraska |
| Official website | rollrivers.com |
| Locations | |
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The American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III. From 1927 until August 9, 2018, it was known officially as the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) and commonly as the Iowa Conference.
History
[edit | edit source]Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Association began in 1890.[1][2] The A-R-C dates back to December 8, 1922, when representatives from 12 colleges from the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Association merged. Charter members were Buena Vista College, Central University of Iowa, Ellsworth College, Iowa Wesleyan College, Luther College, Morningside College, Parsons College, St. Ambrose College, Simpson College, Upper Iowa University, Western Union College and Penn College. Des Moines University was voted into the conference at that meeting as well.
The first Conference constitution was published in January 1923. Also that year, Judge Hubert Utterback of Des Moines, Iowa was named the first conference commissioner and Iowa Teachers (now known as the University of Northern Iowa) was accepted as a member. Columbia College (now known as Loras College) was admitted in 1926. Ellsworth left the conference in 1927. That spring, the conference's name was changed to the "Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference." After a three-year ban, athletics were reinstated at the University of Dubuque in 1928–29, and it joined the conference in 1929. Wartburg College was admitted to the conference in 1936, beginning competition the following year. Morningside dropped out in 1936 because of inactivity. William Penn was suspended from the conference in 1949 for using ineligible players. The school was back in the conference in 1951, though it did not compete in football until later. In 1951, St. Ambrose and Loras dropped from football competition.
The Iowa Conference reorganized in 1953, effective with the 1954–55 school year. Nine schools remained in the conference: Buena Vista, Central, Dubuque, Iowa Wesleyan, Luther, Parsons, Simpson, Upper Iowa and Wartburg. William Penn was re-admitted to the conference in 1960, effective in the spring of 1962. Parsons left the conference around 1963, while Iowa Wesleyan left effective June 1, 1965. Loras re-joined the conference in 1986, increasing the conference membership to nine schools, which continued until 1997 when Coe and Cornell left the Midwest Conference to join the IIAC. The Conference was at 11 schools until its 80th-anniversary year (2001–02) when William Penn decided to leave and switch its affiliation from the NCAA to the NAIA. The IIAC became a nine-school conference when Upper Iowa reclassified to NCAA Division II prior to the start of the 2003–04 academic year and fell back to eight schools with Cornell's return to the Midwest Conference following the 2011–12 academic year.
The conference expanded beyond the borders of Iowa in 2016 with the addition of Nebraska Wesleyan University.[3] On August 9, 2018, the league changed its name to the American Rivers Conference to reflect its current makeup.[4]
Chronological timeline
[edit | edit source]- 1922 – On December 8, 1922, the American Rivers Conference was founded as the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Association (IIAA). Charter members included Buena Vista College (now Buena Vista University), Central University of Iowa (now Central College), Des Moines University, Ellsworth College (now Ellsworth Community College), Iowa Wesleyan College (later Iowa Wesleyan University), Luther College, Morningside College (now Morningside University), Parsons College, St. Ambrose College (now St. Ambrose University), Simpson College, Upper Iowa College (now Upper Iowa University), Western Union College (later Westmar University) and Penn College (now William Penn University), beginning the 1922–23 academic year.
- 1923 – Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa) joined the IIAA in the 1923–24 academic year.
- 1926 – Columbia College of Iowa joined the IIAA in the 1926–27 academic year.
- 1927:
- Ellsworth left the IIAA after the 1926–27 academic year.
- The IIAA was rebranded as the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) during the spring season, beginning the 1927–28 academic year.
- 1929:
- Des Moines U. left the IIAC as the school ceased operations after the 1928–29 academic year.
- The University of Dubuque joined the IIAC in the 1929–30 academic year.
- 1935 – Northern Iowa left the IIAC fully align with the North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NCIAC) after the 1934–35 academic year.
- 1936 – Morningside left the IIAC to fully align with the NCIAC after the 1935–36 academic year.
- 1937 – Wartburg College joined the IIAC in the 1937–38 academic year.
- 1949 – William Penn was suspended for two seasons by the IIAC after the 1948–49 academic year.
- 1951 – William Penn was reinstated back to the IIAC in the 1951–52 academic year.
- 1954 – Loras, St. Ambrose, Westmar and William Penn left the IIAC after the 1953–54 academic year.
- 1960 – William Penn rejoined the IIAC, beginning the 1962 spring season of the 1961–62 academic year.
- 1965 – Iowa Wesleyan left the IIAC after the 1964–65 academic year.
- 1986 – Loras rejoined the IIAC in the 1986–87 academic year.
- 1997 – Coe College and Cornell College joined the IIAC in the 1997–98 academic year.
- 2001 – William Penn left the IIAC for a second time to join the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the Midwest Collegiate Conference (MCC) after the 2000–01 academic year.
- 2003 – Upper Iowa left the IIAC to join the Division II ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as an NCAA D-II Independent (which would later join the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) beginning the 2006–07 academic year) after the 2002–03 academic year.
- 2012 – Cornell left the IIAC to rejoin the Midwest Conference (MWC) after the 2011–12 academic year.
- 2016 – Nebraska Wesleyan University joined the IIAC in the 2016–17 academic year.
- 2018 – On August 9, 2018, the IIAC was rebranded as the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) in the 2018–19 academic year.
- 2026 – Luther will leave the A-R-C to join the MWC after the 2025–26 academic year.
Member schools
[edit | edit source]Current members
[edit | edit source]
The A-R-C currently has nine full members; all are private schools:
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined[a] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buena Vista University | Storm Lake, Iowa | 1891 | Presbyterian | 2,775 | Beavers | 1922 |
| Central College | Pella, Iowa | 1853 | Reformed | 1,575 | Dutch | 1922 |
| Coe College | Cedar Rapids, Iowa | 1851 | Presbyterian | 1,355 | Kohawks | 1997 |
| University of Dubuque | Dubuque, Iowa | 1852 | Presbyterian | 1,361 | Spartans | 1929 |
| Loras College | Dubuque, Iowa | 1839 | Catholic (Archdiocese of Dubuque) |
1,550 | Duhawks | 1926 1986[b] |
| Luther College | Decorah, Iowa | 1861 | Lutheran ELCA | 2,573 | Norse | 1922 |
| Nebraska Wesleyan University | Lincoln, Nebraska | 1887 | United Methodist | 1,600 | Prairie Wolves | 2016 |
| Simpson College | Indianola, Iowa | 1860 | United Methodist | 1,966 | Storm | 1922 |
| Wartburg College | Waverly, Iowa | 1852 | Lutheran ELCA | 1,804 | Knights | 1936 |
- Notes
Former members
[edit | edit source]The A-R-C had 11 former full members, all but one were private schools:
- Notes
- ^ All cities were located in the State of Iowa.
- ^ Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
- ^ Represents the calendar year when spring sports competition ends.
- ^ Currently known as Ellsworth Community College since 1968.
- ^ Currently an NJCAA athletic conference.
- ^ Currently known as the University of Northern Iowa since 1967.
- ^ Currently an NCAA Division I athletic conference.
- ^ Later known as Iowa Wesleyan University beginning in 2015.
- ^ Currently known as Morningside University since 2021.
- ^ a b c Currently an NAIA athletic conference.
- ^ Currently known as St. Ambrose University since 1987.
- ^ St. Ambrose was dropped from the IIAC after the 1953–54 school year because it was determined they were "too strong" for the other members to play against.
- ^ Currently an NCAA Division II athletic conference.
- ^ Later known as Westmar University from 1995 until its closure in late 1997.
- ^ Westmar was dropped from the IIAC after the 1953–54 school year because it was determined they were "too weak" for the other members to play against.
- ^ Formerly known as William Penn College until 2000.
- ^ William Penn was suspended from the conference from 1949–50 to 1950–51 and then removed from the IIAC for being "too weak" after the 1953–54 school year; William Penn would later rejoin the IIAC from the 1962 spring season (1961–62 school year) to 2000–01.
Membership timeline
[edit | edit source]<timeline> DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1922 till:2032 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:5 left:5 bottom:40 top:5
Colors =
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb(0.7,0.9,0.8) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports
id:FullxF value:rgb(0.9,0.8,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football
id:AssocF value:rgb(0.9,0.7,0.8) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only
id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.8,0.9,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for another sport only
id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference
id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference when the other color has already been used
PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:Full from:1922 till:end text:Buena Vista (1922–present)
bar:2 color:Full from:1922 till:end text:Central (Ia.) (1922–present)
bar:3 color:Full from:1922 till:1927 text:Ellsworth C.C. (1922–1927)
bar:4 color:Full from:1922 till:1965 text:Iowa Wesleyan (1922–1965)
bar:5 color:Full from:1922 till:2026 text:Luther (Ia.) (1922–2026)
bar:6 color:Full from:1922 till:1936 text:Morningside (1922–1936)
bar:7 color:Full from:1922 till:1963 text:Parsons (1922–1963)
bar:8 color:Full from:1922 till:1952 text:St. Ambrose (1922–1954) bar:8 color:FullxF from:1952 till:1954
bar:9 color:Full from:1922 till:end text:Simpson (1922–present)
bar:10 color:Full from:1922 till:2003 text:Upper Iowa (1922–2003)
bar:11 color:Full from:1922 till:1954 text:Westmar (1922–1954)
bar:12 color:Full from:1922 till:1949 text:William Penn (1922–1949) bar:12 color:FullxF from:1951 till:1952 text:(1951–1954) bar:12 color:Full from:1952 till:1954 bar:12 color:Full from:1962 till:2001 text:(1962–2001)
bar:13 color:Full from:1922 till:1929 text:Des Moines (1922–1929)
bar:14 color:Full from:1923 till:1935 text:Northern Iowa (1923–1935)
bar:15 color:Full from:1926 till:1952 text:Loras (1926–1954) bar:15 color:FullxF from:1952 till:1954 bar:15 color:Full from:1986 till:end text:(1986–present)
bar:16 color:Full from:1929 till:end text:Dubuque (1929–present)
bar:17 color:Full from:1936 till:end text:Wartburg (1936–present)
bar:18 color:Full from:1997 till:end text:Coe (1997–present)
bar:19 color:Full from:1997 till:2012 text:Cornell (Ia.) (1997–2012)
bar:20 shift:(-40) color:Full from:2016 till:end text:Nebraska Wesleyan (2016–present)
bar:N color:green from:1922 till:1927 text:IIAA bar:N color:blue from:1927 till:2018 text:Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference bar:N shift:(-20) color:green from:2018 till:end text:American Rivers Conference
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1925
TextData =
fontsize:M textcolor:black pos:(0,20) tabs:(400-center) text:^"American Rivers Conference membership history"
- > If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following three options (use only the colors that are used in the graphic.) Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space.
Full member (all sports) Full member (non-football) Associate member (football-only) <# </timeline>
Full member (all sports) Full member (non-football) Associate member (football) Associate member (sport)
Sports
[edit | edit source]
- Notes
Men's sponsored sports by school
[edit | edit source]
Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the American Rivers Conference that are played by American Rivers schools
[edit | edit source]| School | Gymnastics | Ice Hockey | Lacrosse | Shooting Sports[A] |
Volleyball |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coe | NCSSAA | ||||
| Dubuque | NCHA | MLC | |||
| Loras | CCIW | ||||
| Simpson | EIGL | NCSSAA | Independent | ||
| Wartburg | SCTP |
- Notes
- ^ Not sponsored by the NCAA.
Women's sponsored sports by school
[edit | edit source]Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the American Rivers Conference that are played by American Rivers schools
[edit | edit source]| School | Gymnastics | Shooting Sports[A] |
Triathlon[D] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central | Independent | ||
| Coe | NCSSAA | Independent | |
| Simpson | Independent | NCSSAA | |
| Wartburg | SCTP |
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Iowa. [1] Retrieved Jul 26, 2025
- ^ The Muscatine Journal. May 16, 1890.[2] Retrieved Jul 26, 2025
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External links
[edit | edit source]
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