ELMHURST, Ill. - The Mid-Continent Conference Presidents Council has embraced a strategic plan that places a renewed emphasis on improving the academic and athletic performances of all its student-athletes.
The Summit Plan, which places an emphasis on presidential leadership, seeks to advance the league to one of the premier mid-major conferences in the country. It focuses on student-athlete welfare, academic performance, increased home attendance and improving the league's rating percentage index (RPI) in all sports.
The league plans to recognize the academic achievements of its student-athletes at every opportunity, while seeking to improve the Academic Progress Report (APR) scores of each team. The marketing efforts will be focused on increasing the home attendance, which helps support the student-athletes and provides additional exposure. In addition, the Summit Plan will include a review of staffing, budgeting and scheduling by each member institution to be conducted with the goal of improving the RPI in all conference sports.
Included in the plan is the creation of a new image with the unveiling of a new name, logo and Web site. As of June 1, 2007, the conference will be known as The Summit League (www.thesummitleague.org).
"The Summit League provides a mental image to reach for the top, both academically and athletically," Commissioner Tom Douple said. "The new name fits in perfectly with the Presidents Council's vision for continued improvement and growth of the league.
"Today is a monumental day in the history of our conference," Douple said at Tuesday's press conference. "As we finish the 25th year of play in our conference, we're now setting the precedent for the next 25 years."
The name was developed over the last eight months by a conference-wide committee. The logo itself was designed by Nina Schmidt, a graphic designer at South Dakota State University.
"We are extremely pleased with our new name and logo," said Dr. Alan Goldfarb, president of Western Illinois University and chair of the Presidents Council. "We look forward with anticipation to continued successes in our league as we reach higher with the implementation of the Summit Plan."
The conference was established in 1982 as the Association of Mid-Continent Universities (AMCU). In 1989, it changed its name to the Mid-Continent Conference. The league is currently celebrating its 25th year as a Division I athletic conference.
IUPUI will be entering its tenth season at the NCAA Division I level and in the conference in 2007-08.
"The fact that the process is more than just a name change bodes well for The Summit League," IUPUI Athletics Director Mike Moore said. "The change is part of a plan to improve the student-athlete experience while building the complete reputation of the league."
"I think it's a fresh beginning and will help brand identification," long-time IUPUI head men's soccer coach Steve Franklin said. "Plus, it doesn't lock us in geographically like the Mid-Con did, so that opens us up to further possible expansion.
"It's a fresh and exciting image."
Head basketball coach Ron Hunter, IUPUI's longest tenured head coach, had similar sentiments.
"I'm really excited about the name change, but I'm more excited about the emphasis placed on bettering the league as a whole. With all the changes going on in the league, we're now working hard to make it the best conference possible."
Members of the 10-team Summit League as of July 1, 2007, will be Centenary College, IPFW, IUPUI, UMKC, North Dakota State, Oakland, Oral Roberts, South Dakota State, Southern Utah and Western Illinois.
Defining The Summit League
- The Summit League provides a mental image to reach for the top
- Aspirations of greatness
- Summit is a word that describes looking up, moving up, striving to go up and reaching for the top
- Reach the Summit in academics and athletics
- Quick and easy to say
- Provides a sense of movement forward
- Visionary and contemporary
- Summit is what lies ahead. It embodies vision and purpose and represents the possibility of creation, innovation and opportunity
- Embraces the potential of a vibrant future
- Positive direction, conveys momentum
Usage of The Summit League
- On first reference, refer to it as The Summit League. Future references may be shortened to The Summit
- Do not refer to the league as TSL or SL
- A student-athlete who is voted to the conference's first team is referred to as first-team All-Summit (or an All-Summit League selection)
- Do not refer to a student-athlete as a member of the All-"The" Summit team or first-team All-"The" Summit
- It is acceptable to refer to a student-athlete as an all-league or all-conference selection.
