Bluefield, WV – Bluefield State University accepts invitation to the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA).
They say you can always come home. Well, Bluefield State University has been away from home since 1955, but on Friday morning, President Robin Capehart accepted the invitation from the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) for full membership bringing us home. Starting with the 2023-2024 academic year, the CIAA conference will be home for 13 of the Big Blue Athletic Programs. These programs are Football, Men's and Women's Basketball, Men's and Women's Cross-Country, Men's and Women's Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field, Volleyball, Men's Golf, Softball, and Women's Tennis.
The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) was founded in the District of Columbia in 1912, as the Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association; adopting its current name in December 1950. The conference is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina and is represented by now thirteen institutions from Pennsylvania to South Carolina; comprised of both private and public colleges and universities with enrollments ranging from 750 to over 8,000 students. Those institutions outside of Bluefield State include; Bowie State University, Claflin University, Elizabeth City State University, Fayetteville State University, Johnson C. Smith University, Lincoln University, Livingstone College, Shaw University, St. Augustine's University, Virginia State University, Virginia Union University, and Winston-Salem State University.
From 1932 to 1955, Bluefield State University (then Bluefield State College) was a member of the CIAA. In 1955, due to desegregation of other state institutions Bluefield State was forced to leave the CIAA and join the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC). When the WVIAC disbanded in 2013, Bluefield State was left searching for a home, while still competing as an NCAA DII independent member. As Marty McFly said in Back to the Future, "Your future is whatever you make it, so make it a good one." Bluefield State has done just that. Since becoming independent, Bluefield State has still seen success in many ways. There have been countless school records broken, NCAA Regional titles, 3 USCAA National titles, a Black College World Series title, and countless Athletic and Academic All-Americans.
Though independence is something that we all enjoy, it is not where you want to be when you are a member of the NCAA. It can be tough on scheduling, travel, and natural team rivalries. All of which can have an effect on the student-athlete experience. Joining the CIAA will help alleviate a lot of those issues and create a student-athlete experience that is second to none.
Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Derrick Price on joining the CIAA, "To be going back to the oldest HBCU conference and one of the oldest conferences in the NCAA is a perfect fit for Bluefield State University. Joining the CIAA is something that we made a priority from day one as an administrative team."
In joining the CIAA and the current member institutions, we are assured of many years of championship-level competition and we look to build upon the legacy that is the CIAA. We're home BIG BLUE!
