University of Jamestown officially removed from GPAC

Photo Description: Concordia Volleyball Plays Jamestown on Oct. 6

Photo Credit: Esther Molina

Madeline Peters

Sower Staff

The Great Plains Athletic Conference said the University of Jamestown in North Dakota will not be a member following the 2023-24 academic year.

The University of Jamestown in August told the Bismarck Tribune it was seeking to join the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The conference has schools in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Minnesota, including the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod’s Concordia University St. Paul. The NSIC is also a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II conference.

A vote taken by the GPAC Council of Presidents on Oct. 10 removed Jamestown from the conference.

“The University of Jamestown has been a good member of the GPAC since they joined the league in 2018,” said Northwestern College President Greg Christy, chairman of the GPAC Council of Presidents. “We wish them all the best as they continue to pursue an opportunity to join the NSIC and a move to NCAA Division II.”

Jamestown had not received any news about their bid for a different conference, according to the Jamestown Sun, which reported the next step is for NSIC officials to visit the university at the end of the month to evaluate the university’s application.

Concordia University Nebraska Athletic Director Devin Smith said that finding official information regarding Jamestown’s application had been difficult.

“Readily for about 10 12 months, we started hearing within the GPAC that there were conversations that Jamestown was exploring NCAA Division II and joining a different league, which was the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference,” said Smith. “The key to it was I had conversations with their athletic administrator, their director of athletics, and he never confirmed these conversations.”

However, coaches and other personnel were sharing information before the University of Jamestown administration ever stated they were looking to join a different conference.  “These conversations were happening within the coaches’ circles,” Smith said. “Different sport-specific coaches’ circles, they were hearing, or athletic trainers, or whatever, and it was getting out that they were doing this.”

The news first broke in an article from The Jamestown Sun over the summer.

According to an email sent to fellow GPAC athletic directors, Jamestown Director Austin Hieb detailed the university’s reasoning behind the switch, citing travel and the health and wellness of the athletic department.

Smith praised Hieb’s work, saying that he was a great colleague and he and his professionalism will be missed amongst the GPAC staff.

The vote from the council of presidents was a surprise, according to Smith, who had just had a meeting the day before the vote with the GPAC athletic directors.

“I just know that there was significant conversation in the GPAC ADs meeting about the timeline,” said Smith, who added there was a sense the whole process was not forthright.

“It didn’t seem like that should’ve been the process,” Smith. “In hindsight, everything’s 20/20, you can look back at it and say, ‘Hey, you could’ve done it this way’ or whatever, but there was significant conversation in our GPAC steering committee, which is the athletic directors, but the whole vote and that, that came out of the Council of Presidents meeting the next day.”

The GPAC constitution allows members to withdraw due to a letter of written notice or acceptance into another conference, but the conference statement did not include a reason for the revocation of membership. The conference is also allowed to revoke membership for a sufficient reason.

For the 2023-24 academic year, nothing will change for Concordia Nebraska sports. Those schedules are set and will be followed. Starting in the 2024-2025 year, GPAC will add Waldorf University in Forest City, Iowa, to its roster.

Waldorf is roughly five hours away from Concordia Nebraska, closer than the 8.5-hour drive to Jamestown.

“Missed class time has diminished, or should diminish, in the next rotations of class schedules.” Smith said. “Our budgets — we still have to spend money to go to Waldorf, but it’ll be significantly less compared to, you know, in combination for a fiscal year, with all our teams going to Jamestown.”