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| Photo for Carlow athletics by Robert Cifone |
Carlow University announced plans to shift athletic alliances and conferences, as the Celtics will join the National Collegiate Athletic Association as a Division III university in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. The university has been a member of the NAIA since 1982.
The Celtics did not take the decision to upend its long-standing history with both organizations lightly. Tim Phillips, vice president of student affairs and dean of students, selected a review committee comprising student-athletes, staff, coaches and the University's faculty athletics representative when making this decision. The committee held open forums with athletes, coaches and staff to gauge interest and field questions and concerns about the possibility of moving to the NCAA.
Throughout the course of the process, the committee and University leadership learned that such a shift would lead to several key benefits for Carlow's student-athletes – chief among those, reduced travel, expenses and missed class time.
"This is an exciting time for Carlow University athletics in our new direction toward possible NCAA and AMCC membership," Carlow athletic director Louis Zadecky said. "I believe this partnership will provide a better athletic experience for our student-athletes in regard to competition, shorter travel time, fewer missed classes and an overall better student and campus community experience."
"For so many reasons, Carlow is a welcome addition to the AMCC family," AMCC commissioner Donna Ledwin said. "Because of their location in the middle of our geographic footprint, they already have established relationships with a majority of our member institutions. They bring a menu of sports that work well with what we sponsor or hope to grow, and they have a leadership team that understands the Division III philosophy and what that means in terms of educating the whole student. All of that adds up to a win-win partnership."
The Carlow Celtics will become provisional members of the AMCC in 2023-24, pending successful completion of the Division III exploratory year and acceptance into the NCAA provisional member process.
"This outstanding opportunity could not have happened without the tremendous support of president Kathy W. Humphrey, Dr. Tim Phillips, the University Board of Directors and countless campus partners," Zadecky added. "I can't express enough gratitude to these individuals who embraced the opportunity and vision to make this a possibility. I believe this partnership will strengthen our athletic department and provide even more opportunities for our student-athletes to succeed on campus and in their future endeavors."
The NCAA membership timetable means that Carlow would be a full conference member at the start of the 2026-27 academic year. Prior to that, the Celtics would be eligible for all AMCC privileges with the exception of participation in post-season events where the conference holds an automatic bid to the Division III tournament.
"I would like to thank NCAA DIII Associate Director Dr. Eric Hartung, AMCC Commissioner Donna Ledwin and AMCC campus administrators and directors for their confidence in Carlow University to provide us an opportunity to be a part of their organizations," Zadecky said. "Special thanks to our sponsor institution Mount Aloysius College, President John McKeegan and Director of Athletics Kevin Kime for all their support along the way."
The NCAA and the AMCC agreed Carlow could maintain its dual affiliation with the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA), where the Celtics will still have the opportunity to compete in national championships.