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An NCAA Division III facility is to be launched from the conference that it helped found with six other schools in 1920 for athletic success.
The Minnesota Inter-University Conference on Sport (MIAC) on Wednesday decided to overthrow the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, citing sports parity. The Tommies will be "deleted involuntarily" in two years.
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"After lengthy discussions among members, the University of St. Thomas will be involuntarily withdrawn from the Minnesota Inter-University Sports Conference," the conference said in a statement. "The Council of Presidents of MIAC cites as a primary concern sport parity in the competition. St. Thomas will immediately begin a multi-year transition and in the meantime, will be able to participate as a full member of MIAC until the end of spring 2021. "
St. Thomas, a private Catholic liberal arts university, is the largest school in Division III, with 6,200 undergraduate students, double the number of enrollments in schools closest to the league.
St. Thomas coach Glen Caruso leads his team on the field for a college football match against St. John's in St. Paul, Minnesota (Jim Gehrz / Star Tribune via AP)
The Tommies have won 12 consecutive MIAC all-sport awards in both men's and women's sports, based on the arrival of competitions in each sport. The football team, led by head coach Glenn Caruso, has won six conference titles since 2010 and won the national title in 2012 and 2015.
Other MIAC presidents have attempted to expel St. Thomas with modified league rules that would impose a cap on registration, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported last month. St. Olaf, the school that lost to the Tommies 97-0 at a football match in 2017, was the only school to recognize the process at the newspaper.
"We are participating in these discussions in good faith," St. Olaf officials told the Star Tribune.
St. Thomas President Julie H. Sullivan called the conference's decision "extremely disappointing," according to FOX 9.
"St. Thomas has made considerable efforts to stay within MIAC and stabilize the conference, "Sullivan said in a statement. "However, the presidents have reached a consensus that the conference itself would cease to exist in its current form if St. Thomas remained."
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Sullivan said the school would seek to immediately join a new conference. We do not know which conference it would target.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
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