Midwest Conference

History

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The organization of the Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference (MCAC) was conceived at a meeting at Coe College on May 12, 1921. Charter members were Beloit College, Carleton College, Coe College, Cornell College, Knox College (Illinois) and Lawrence University. Hamline University and Millikin University joined the league in December 1921, but both of them later withdrew: Hamline after the 1929–30 academic year, and Millikin after the 1924–25 academic year.

Ripon College joined the conference in 1923, followed by Monmouth College in 1924, Grinnell College in 1940 and Lake Forest College in 1974. Illinois College and St. Norbert College joined in 1982 and Carroll University followed in 1992. Carleton withdrew following the 1982–83 academic year. St. Olaf College also competed in the conference from 1952 to 1974, as did the University of Chicago from 1976 to 1987. Coe and Cornell withdrew following the 1996–97 academic year with Cornell rejoining the league starting in the 2012–13 year. Macalester College joined as a football-only member starting in 2014. The University of Chicago returned as a football-only member in 2017, and added baseball to its conference membership in the 2019 season (2018–19 school year).

The MWC split into North and South divisions for football, men's and women's tennis, baseball, and softball from 2012 through 2016. Divisional play ended with the departure of Carroll after the 2015–16 school year, and resumed for football only with the addition of the University of Chicago as an affiliate member for the 2017–18 season. St. Norbert left in 2021 for the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference.

On March 11, 2025, the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSoE) announced that it would join the MWC as an affiliate member for men's and women's swimming & diving, beginning the 2025–26 winter season.

Chronological timeline

• 1921 – The Midwest Conference (MWC) was founded as the Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference (MCAC). Charter members included Beloit College, Carleton College, Coe College, Cornell College, Knox College and Lawrence College (now Lawrence University), beginning the 1921–22 academic year.
• 1922 – Hamline University and Millikin College (now Millikin University) joined the MCAC in the 1922–23 academic year.
• 1923 – Ripon College joined the MCAC in the 1923–24 academic year.
• 1924 – Monmouth College joined the MCAC in the 1924–25 academic year.
• 1925 – Millikin left the MCAC after the 1924–25 academic year.
• 1930 – Hamline left the MCAC to fully align with the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) after the 1929–30 academic year.
• 1940 – Grinnell College joined the MCAC in the 1940–41 academic year.
• 1941 – Carleton left the MCAC after the 1940–41 academic year; as the school withdrew from the conference in June 1941.
• 1945 – Carleton rejoined the MCAC during the 1946 spring season of the 1945–46 academic year; specifically for track & field.
• 1951 – Beloit College was expelled from the conference after from the faculty of the other members schools. The stated reason was that Beloit had athletic policies that ran "contrary to the spirit and principles of the conference" including the scheduling of large schools and participation in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).
• 1952 – St. Olaf College joined the MCAC in the 1952–53 academic year.
• 1958 – Beloit College applied to return to the league and was subsequently reinstated as a founding member.
• 1974:
  • St. Olaf left the MCAC after the 1973–74 academic year.
  • Lake Forest College joined the MCAC in the 1974–75 academic year.
• 1976 – The University of Chicago joined the MCAC in the 1976–77 academic year.
• 1982 – Illinois College and St. Norbert College joined the MCAC in the 1982–83 academic year.
• 1983 – Carleton left the MCAC to rejoin the MIAC after the 1982–83 academic year.
• 1987 – University of Chicago left the MCAC to join the University Athletic Association (UAA) after the 1986–87 academic year.
• 1992 – Carroll College (now Carroll University) joined the MCAC in the 1992–93 academic year.
• 1994 – The MCAC has rebranded when the conference merged with the women's-only Midwest Athletic Conference for Women (MACW; founded since the 1977–78 school year) to become the Midwest Conference (MWC), effective beginning the 1994–95 academic year.
• 1997 – Coe and Cornell left the MWC to join the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (now the American Rivers Conference [ARC]) after the 1996–97 academic year.
• 2012 – Cornell rejoined the MWC in the 2012–13 academic year.
• 2014 – Macalester College joined the MWC as an affiliate member for football in the 2014 fall season (2014–15 academic year).
• 2016 – Carroll left the MWC to join the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) after the 2015–16 academic year.
• 2017 – University of Chicago rejoined the MWC, but as an affiliate member for football in the 2017 season (2017–18 academic year).
• 2018 – University of Chicago added baseball into its MWC affiliate membership in the 2019 season (2018–19 academic year).
• 2021:
  • St. Norbert left the MWC as a full member to join the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) after the 2020–21 academic year. St. Norbert would remain as an affiliate member for men's and women's swimming & diving.
  • Macalester left the MWC as an affiliate member for football after the 2020 fall season (2020–21 academic year).
• 2024 – University of Chicago left the MWC as an affiliate member for baseball after the 2024 season (2023–24 academic year).
• 2025 – The Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) joined the MWC as an affiliate member for men's and women's swimming & diving in the 2025–26 academic year.
• 2026 – Luther College will join the MWC, beginning in the 2026–27 academic year.

Member schools

Every member in the history of the MWC and its predecessor conferences, whether full, affiliate, current, or former, has been a private school.

Current members

The MWC currently has nine full members.

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Future member

The MWC will have one future member.

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Affiliate members

The MWC currently has three affiliate members.

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Former members

The MWC had eight former full members.

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Former affiliate members

The MWC had two former affiliate members.

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Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1921 till:2031 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:5 left:5 bottom:40 top:5

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bar:1 color:FullxF from:1921 till:1922 text:Beloit (1921–present) bar:1 color:Full from:1922 till:1951 bar:1 color:FullxF from:1951 till:1959 bar:1 color:Full from:1959 till:end

bar:2 color:FullxF from:1921 till:1922 text:Carleton (1921–1941) bar:2 color:Full from:1922 till:1941 bar:2 color:Full from:1946 till:1983 text:(1946–1983)

bar:3 color:FullxF from:1921 till:1922 text:Coe (1921–1997) bar:3 color:Full from:1922 till:1997

bar:4 color:FullxF from:1921 till:1922 text:Cornell (Ia.) (1921–1997) bar:4 color:Full from:1922 till:1997 bar:4 color:Full from:2012 till:end text:(2012–present)

bar:5 color:FullxF from:1921 till:1922 text:Knox (Ill.) (1921–present) bar:5 color:Full from:1922 till:end

bar:6 color:FullxF from:1921 till:1922 text:Lawrence (1921–present) bar:6 color:Full from:1922 till:end

bar:7 color:Full from:1922 till:1930 text:Hamline (1922–1930)

bar:8 color:Full from:1922 till:1925 text:Millikin (1922–1925)

bar:9 color:Full from:1923 till:end text:Ripon (Wisc.) (1923–present)

bar:10 color:Full from:1924 till:1974 text:Monmouth (Ill.) (1924–present) bar:10 color:FullxF from:1974 till:1976 bar:10 color:Full from:1976 till:end

bar:11 color:Full from:1940 till:end text:Grinnell (1940–present)

bar:12 color:Full from:1952 till:1974 text:St. Olaf (1952–1974)

bar:13 color:Full from:1974 till:end text:Lake Forest (1974–present)

bar:14 color:Full from:1976 till:1987 text:Chicago (1976–1987) bar:14 color:AssocF from:2017 till:end text:(2017–present)

bar:15 color:FullxF from:1982 till:1983 text:Illinois College (1982–present) bar:15 color:Full from:1983 till:end

bar:16 color:FullxF from:1982 till:1983 text:St. Norbert (1982–present) bar:16 color:Full from:1983 till:1998 bar:16 color:FullxF from:1998 till:1999 bar:16 color:Full from:1999 till:2021 bar:16 color:AssocOS from:2021 till:end

bar:17 color:Full from:1992 till:2016 text:Carroll (Wisc.) (1992–2016)

bar:18 color:AssocF from:2014 till:2021 text:Macalester (2014–2021)

bar:19 shift:(-60) color:AssocOS from:2025 till:end text:MSOE (2025–present)

bar:20 shift:(-60) color:Full from:2026 till:end text:Luther (2026–future)

bar:N color:powderblue from:1921 till:1994 text:Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference (MCAC) bar:N color:blue from:1994 till:end text:Midwest Conference

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TextData = fontsize:M textcolor:black pos:(0,20) tabs:(400-center) text:^"Midwest Conference membership history"

1. 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.

Sports

Men's Sports

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Midwest that are played by Midwest schools

Women's Sports

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Midwest that are played by Midwest schools

Conference facilities

Footnotes

References

References

1. "Carroll University leaving Midwest Conference for CCIW".
2. "Football Season Preview".
3. (April 3, 2019). "NACC Welcomes St. Norbert College as Full Member in 2020-21". Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference.
4. (March 11, 2025). "MWC Welcomes Milwaukee School of Engineering as Affiliate Member in Swimming & Diving". Midwest Conference.
5. McHugh, Roy. (July 24, 1941). "Carleton Still At Odds With Midwest". [[The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa).
6. . (March 16, 1946). ["Carleton Returns To Midwest Loop In All Athletics"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-gazette/143327147/). *[[The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa)*.
7. https://digitalpublications.beloit.edu/?a=d&d=ROT19510525-01.1.8&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------
8. https://www.beloit.edu/live/news/2702-a-decade-of-dominance-and-half-a-century-of