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77-545: American University was founded in 1893, and the first building opened for classes in 1907. But it wasn't until the fall of 1925 that the university organized intercollegiate athletics. The university fielded both a men's and women's basketball team, and a football team. George Springston was appointed athletic director (AD) and head coach of the men's basketball team and football team, fielding his first teams in October 1925. In February 1929, Springston resigned and Walter Young

154-865: A "balanced" approach to student athletics, providing a high level of competition with regional championships that require less travel and cost and more access to championships than the other divisions. For athletes, Division II mandates a mandatory day off from athletic activities per week; this requirement was eliminated from Division I in 2018. There are currently 303 full, seven reclassifying and two provisional members of Division II. Division II schools tend to be smaller public universities and many private institutions. A large minority of Division II institutions (91 schools / 30%) have fewer than 2,499 students. Only 18 institutions have more than 15,000 undergraduates, and only five have more than 25,000, led by Simon Fraser University . Eighty-nine percent of Division II institutions have fewer than 7,500 students. Division II has

231-524: A 20-year veteran of sports industry marketing with Octagon , to be the university's new AD. George resigned effective July 31, 2003, to return to the sports marketing field. Although his tenure was short, George was able to win national television appearances for AU's women's volleyball and men's basketball teams, and major press coverage of the AU men's soccer and track and field teams. Dr. Joni Comstock became AU's first permanent female athletic director when she

308-405: A Division I FCS school do not have to sit out a year, provided that the player has at least two remaining seasons of athletic eligibility. The same also applies to players transferring from scholarship-granting FCS schools to non-scholarship FCS schools. Second, a first-time transfer does not have to sit out a year, provided that the player's former institution grants a scholarship release. Before

385-494: A Division III championship but no Division II championship. In any sport that does not have a Division II national championship, Division II members are allowed to award the same number of scholarships as Division I members. One D-II conference, the East Coast Conference , features D-I Bryant as an associate member in bowling, a sport with a single NCAA championship event open to all divisions. An earlier example

462-578: A centrally located hotel, allowing a village-like experience. The first such festival was held in Orlando, Florida in 2004 for spring sports. It became an annual event in the 2006–07 school year, and has been held each school year since with the exception of 2009–10 and 2021 and 2022 (due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Since the current annual cycle began in 2006–07, the event has rotated between featuring fall, spring, and winter sports, in that order (the cycling

539-552: A decimal point, with a trailing zero if needed. * Championships are combined with D-I Another feature unique to Division II is what the NCAA calls the "National Championships Festival"—an annual event, explicitly modeled after the Olympics , in which a single city hosts national championship finals in multiple sports over a period of several days. Each festival has formal opening and closing ceremonies, and competitors are housed in

616-615: A diverse membership, with two active member institutions in Alaska and three in Hawaii. Additionally, it is the only division that has member institutions in Puerto Rico and the only division that has expanded its membership to include an international member institution. Simon Fraser University became the first institution outside the US to enter the NCAA membership process. This occurred after

693-571: A loss of institutional memory in the Athletic Department. Dan Radakovich was named McElroy's successor on September 11, 2000. Radakovich had previously served as the chief financial officer of the athletic department at the University of South Carolina . Radakovich resigned after just eight months on the job to become senior associate athletic director at Louisiana State University . In November 2001, Ladner hired Tom George ,

770-675: A mass exodus to the Lone Star Conference (LSC). The remaining Heartland member, Newman University, announced in February 2018 that it would become a de facto member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) at that time. Newman technically became an associate member because it does not sponsor football, a mandatory sport for full MIAA members, but now houses all of its varsity sports in that league. One of

847-406: A move. Sports are ranked according to total possible scholarships (number of teams × number of scholarships per team). Since all Division II sports are considered equivalency sports (as opposed to the "head-count" status of several Division I sports: men's and women's basketball, FBS football, women's gymnastics, women's tennis, women's [indoor] volleyball), all scholarship numbers are indicated with

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924-682: A new league , a move that led to the demise of the WVIAC. The Mountain East was approved by the NCAA Division II Membership Committee in February 2013, and became an official conference on September 1 of that year. The most recent change to the roster of D-II conferences was the demise of the Heartland Conference at the end of the 2018–19 school year. In August 2017, eight of its nine members announced

1001-638: A new sports arena at American University to replace the Leonard Center (later named the Cassell Center), which the university had purchased in 1946. The new facility, Bender Arena opened in 1988. The swimming pool was named Frailey Pool in his honor. Joseph F. O'Donnell was appointed Frailey's successor on February 4, 1987. He was formerly an assistant athletic director at Wichita State University . O'Donnell served as AD until June 2, 1995. Ed Tapscott, AU's men's basketball coach since 1982, left

1078-531: A number of local or in-state student-athletes. Many Division II student-athletes pay for school through a combination of scholarship money, grants, student loans and employment earnings. Division II athletics programs are financed in the institution's budget like other academic departments on campus. Traditional rivalries with regional institutions dominate schedules of many Division II athletics programs. Athletic scholarships are offered in most sponsored sports at most institutions, but with more stringent limits as to

1155-499: A public protest against the move on March 28. Many of AU's top athletic stars vowed to transfer to another school if AU changes conferences. On April 24, 2000, American University announced it would join the Patriot League beginning with the 2001–2002 season. AU President Ladner decided to make the switch after judging the commitment to academics of the other Patriot League schools, most of which were private schools like AU. In

1232-624: A separate degree program (whether graduate, undergraduate, or professional) at the new institution. There are also some restrictions with transferring to another school for the same sport in the same conference. The newest D-II conference is the Mountain East Conference , formed in 2012 after the football-sponsoring schools in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) announced that they would leave to form

1309-542: A single championship open to schools from all divisions (for example bowling and rifle), or a combined Division I/II national championship and a separate Division III championship (as in women's ice hockey and men's volleyball). Examples of sports with identical scholarship numbers in the two divisions, but separate national championships for each, include men's cross-country and women's rowing. In sports that conduct "National Collegiate" championships open to schools from multiple divisions, Division II schools are allowed to award

1386-586: A single sex, and the NCAA has separate men's and women's scholarship limits in both sports. The NCAA does not strictly prevent its member institutions from playing outside of their own division, or indeed playing against schools that are not members of the NCAA. Many Division II schools frequently schedule matches against members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), which consists of colleges and universities that offer athletic scholarships similar to NCAA Division II across

1463-399: A team's contest minimum is women's rugby, in which two such contests per school year can be counted. There are not attendance requirements for football, nor arena size requirements for basketball. There are maximum financial aid awards for each sport, as well as a separate limit on financial aid awards in men's sports, that a Division II school must not exceed. Division II teams usually feature

1540-899: The East Coast Conference . The conference formed after several years of discussion by AU and 11 other schools which played in the University Division of the MAC. In 1984, the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) South voted to begin hosting championships in sports other than basketball. AU agreed to join the ECAC-South in March 1984. The ECAC-South changed its name to the Colonial Athletic Association in June 1985. By 2000,

1617-545: The Patriot League , discussions which became more serious after the United States Naval Academy said it would join the Patriot League if AU did. The Patriot League formally invited AU to join the conference in mid-March 2000. But according to an anonymous source, nearly all of the coaches at AU resisted the conference switch. The CAA allowed AU to offer athletic scholarships in all sports, while

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1694-496: The Stafford H. Cassell Hall of Fame, in honor of the school's late football coach, athletic director, and vice president. American University Eagles California State University, Long Beach Long Beach State 49ers football American college football team George Springston George Ballie Springston (November 11, 1898 – December 30, 1963) was an American college football and basketball player and coach. He served as

1771-650: The University of Richmond . On February 28, 2013, President Kerwin announced that AU had hired Dr. William "Billy" Walker to be the new athletic director. He joined the AU staff on April 3, 2013. A graduate of the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA), Walker was deputy director of athletics and professor and head of the Physical Education Department at the Air Force Academy. Dr. Walker retired from

1848-665: The Washington Bullets professional basketball team; Tom Davis , later head coach at the University of Iowa ; Tom Young , later head coach at Rutgers University ; Ed Tapscott , later an NBA executive for several teams; and Fran Dunphy , later coach at the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University . In 1979, Frailey named and co-founded the Colonial Athletic Association , the NCAA Division I league in which AU teams now began to participate. As his career neared its end, Fraily pushed hard for construction of

1925-445: The championship game in football , CBS televises the men's basketball championship, and ESPN2 televises the women's basketball championship. Stadium broadcasts six football games on Thursdays during the regular season, and one men's basketball game per week on Saturdays during that sport's regular season. The official slogan of NCAA Division II, implemented in 2015, is "Make It Yours." The NCAA argues that Division II offers

2002-406: The 2021–22 school year, this applied to sports other than football, baseball, men's and women's basketball, and men's ice hockey; it was extended to the remaining sports effective in 2021–22. Additionally, student-athletes in any sport who complete a bachelor's degree and still have athletic eligibility remaining can transfer to another school and be immediately eligible, provided that they enroll in

2079-579: The 2021–22 school year. Over time, the GNAC saw most of its football-playing schools drop the sport, and it entered into a football scheduling alliance for 2020 and 2021 with the Lone Star Conference (LSC). The alliance was further extended for 2022 and 2023, by which time the GNAC football membership had dropped to three, but was superseded when the three GNAC schools became football-only LSC members effective in 2022. The NCAA imposes limits on

2156-606: The Air Force in July 2013 at the rank of brigadier general , and awarded the Legion of Merit . During his first year as AD, the women's field hockey, women's volleyball, and men's basketball teams won Patriot League championships. The women's volleyball repeated as Patriot League champions in 2013–2014, and were joined by the women's basketball team. American University's intercollegiate athletic program did not begin until 1925, and for

2233-587: The CAA was down to just eight member schools. American University officials worried about the level of competition in the league, and the level of concern rose dramatically when the NCAA announced it was considering no longer extending automatic bids to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship for leagues with fewer than eight members. Athletic Director Dr. Lee McElroy and President Benjamin Ladner began talks with

2310-407: The CAA, only one other school was private. Another factor was the make-up of AU's student body, 30 percent of which came from the geographic area covered by the Patriot League. (Only five percent of AU's student body came from geographic areas covered by the CAA.) This would enhance AU's non-athletic fundraising and recruitment, Ladner felt. AU officials also felt the Patriot League was more stable than

2387-408: The CAA, which had seen high turnover in membership over the past few years. The Eagles continue to play in the Patriot League, with the exception of the AU wrestling team. Although AU's wrestling program had a long history, by 2001 the program was in deep trouble. The team had a long losing streak in NCAA competition, and President Ladner considered closing the program. Instead, Ladner agreed to infuse

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2464-582: The D-I championship, and are also allowed to operate under D-I scholarship limits. An example of this situation can be seen in men's ice hockey, which has not had a Division II championship in the 21st century. Several full members of the Northeast-10 Conference, plus men's hockey-only member Post University, compete under Division II scholarship limits; other Division II schools with programs in that sport choose to play as Division I programs under

2541-556: The D-II school is almost invariably the visiting team, and is invited to play with the knowledge that it will likely be defeated but will receive a substantial (at least by Division II standards) monetary reward which will help to finance much of the rest of the season and perhaps other sports as well. Such games are funded by Division I schools that can afford such games. In recent years, "money games" in men's basketball have also included preseason exhibitions against D-I programs, typically in

2618-605: The Division II Membership Committee accepted the institution's application during a July 7–9 meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana. Simon Fraser, located in the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby , British Columbia , began a two-year candidacy period September 1, 2009. Prospective members also must complete at least one year of provisional status before being accepted as full-time Division II members. In

2695-656: The Division II team does win, and against a well-respected Division I program. In 2009, a Division II team beat the eventual Big East regular season champion. In 2010, two other Division II teams beat teams that reached the NCAA Division I tournament. In 2011, another Division II team defeated a Division I team that finished in the top half of the Pac-12 Conference. In 2012, another Division II team beat eventual Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season and tournament champion Miami . Also in basketball, one of

2772-479: The FCS level for establishing a bowl eligibility. Today, D-II "money games" are exclusively against FCS schools, whose postseason eligibility is less seriously impacted by scheduling a D-II opponent. In basketball, where conference tournaments play a large role in determining postseason participants, D-I schools have less of a penalty for scheduling an occasional D-II opponent, resulting in more "money games". In any event,

2849-534: The NCAA for five years, and senior associate athletic director at the University of Oklahoma for four years. AU's athletic teams won 25 team championships and 16 individual championships during his tenure. The men's basketball team won the Patriot League title back-to-back in the 2007-2008 and 2008–2009 seasons. The men's cross country, women's field hockey, and women's volleyball teams also won Patriot League championships. Gill resigned in December 2012 to become AD at

2926-553: The NCAA's smaller schools were grouped together in the College Division . In 1973, the College Division split in two when the NCAA began using numeric designations for its competitions. The College Division members who wanted to offer athletic scholarships or compete against those who did became Division II, while those who chose not to offer athletic scholarships became Division III. Nationally, ESPN televises

3003-481: The Patriot League only permitted this in basketball. They were also concerned that the level of play in the Patriot League was of much lower quality than in the CAA, and that attendance at AU sporting events would drop significantly. More local colleges played in the CAA than in the Patriot League, which critics felt meant higher attendance. In response, the Patriot League allowed AU to continue to offer athletic scholarships in all sports. About 50 student-athletes at AU led

3080-602: The Patriot League, with the men's team winning back-to-back titles on the AU hardcourts and setting Patriot League Championship attendance records each year. The women's team last captured the Patriot League title in 2002. Both the women's and men's tennis teams were discontinued in 2006. Bender Arena is also the home to the AU Volleyball team which was coached by AU Hall of Famer Barry Goldberg for 34 years until he passed in March of 2023. In 1969, American University established an athletics Hall of Fame and named it

3157-657: The United States and Canada. They promote competitive and character-based athletics that is controlled by its NAIA membership, as opposed to the NCAA that serves as a regulating body. Division II schools also frequently schedule "money games", usually in football and men's basketball , against Division I schools. In football, D-II teams once occasionally played games against schools that are now in Division I FBS, but this practice has ended because, under current NCAA rules, FBS schools cannot use victories over schools below

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3234-454: The United States, Bolivia and Portugal trained at Reeves in 1996 in preparation for Summer Olympic games held at RFK Stadium . Reeves Field also features Greenberg Track . It is a six-lane track used to accommodate the track and field programs at AU. During his term as vice-president, George H. W. Bush regularly traveled in the morning from his home at the U.S. Naval Observatory , located about two miles from American University, to run

3311-617: The William I Jacobs Fitness Center; 25-yard, eight-lane pool; the Reeves Aquatic Center, a six-store mini-mall, the campus bookstore, and a 470-car, seven-level parking structure. Bender Arena is also the home of AU's basketball team and AU's nationally ranked wrestling team. Reeves Field home to AU's soccer team, is one of the premier soccer fields in Washington, D.C. Reeves Field earned the 2002 College Soccer Field of

3388-699: The Year by the Sports Turf Managers Association, hosted its fifth NCAA Tournament game, and served as the training site for the Uruguayan National Soccer team. FC Barcelona and Blackburn used Reeves Field as a training facility. In the summer of 2000, AU served as the practice site for Newcastle United , one of England 's premier professional soccer clubs. Major League Soccer's D.C. United, Miami Fusion and San Jose Earthquakes have also practiced at AU. National teams from

3465-616: The best-known early-season tournaments for D-I men's teams, the Maui Invitational , is hosted by D-II member Chaminade . Through the 2017 edition, Chaminade competed in every tournament, but now competes only in odd-numbered years. The now-defunct Great Alaska Shootout , which had men's and women's tournaments, was also hosted by a D-II member, Alaska–Anchorage . Chaminade typically loses all games it plays in Maui; Alaska–Anchorage also typically lost all of its men's Shootout games, but

3542-601: The eight schools that originally announced a move to the LSC, Rogers State University, later changed course and instead chose to follow Newman into de facto MIAA membership (like Newman, and indeed all other Heartland members, Rogers State does not sponsor football). Newman and Rogers State were eventually granted full membership in the league on July 1, 2022. A more recent change saw the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) drop football after

3619-423: The end of the 2004–2005 academic year, and in 2007 redshirt junior Josh Glenn won the 197-pound title at the NCAA Division I wrestling championships. Glenn became AU's first national champion in any sport since 1966, and the school's first since it moved to NCAA Division I. Glenn also became AU's first two-time All-American. American University has several sports facilities, including Bender Arena , which houses

3696-550: The fall of 2012, the NCAA President's Council officially approved Simon Fraser University as the organization's first international member. In April 2017, the NCAA made permanent the pilot program under which Simon Fraser was admitted to the NCAA, allowing each division to determine whether to allow Canadian or Mexican schools to join. In January 2018, Division II became the first NCAA division to officially allow Mexican schools to apply for membership, provided that they meet

3773-555: The first 11 years of the program's existence AU was not a member of a formally organized athletic conference. AU became a founding member in 1936 of the Mason–Dixon Conference , in which it participated until 1966. In 1966, AU moved from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I , and joined the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) effective September 1, 1966. In February 1974, AU became a founding member of

3850-697: The head football coach at American University in Washington, D.C. from 1925 to 1928. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery . NCAA Division II NCAA Division II ( D-II ) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment offered in Division III . Before 1973,

3927-519: The higher Division I scholarship limits. The NCAA classifies teams that consist of both men and women as men's teams for purposes of sports sponsorship and D-II limitations on total scholarships. Three NCAA sports are open to competitors of both sexes. In rifle, not only is there a single team championship for all divisions, but men and women compete as equals. Fencing and skiing also have single team championships, but schools have separate men's and women's squads, with all bouts or races involving members of

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4004-583: The hiring of Gus Welch as its athletic director. Welch had been a football teammate of legendary player Jim Thorpe at Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania , where he was coached by the equally legendary Glenn "Pop" Warner . He had played two years of professional football with the Canton Bulldogs (from 1915 to 1917) prior to his service in World War I. After the war, he

4081-430: The numbers offered in any one sport than at the Division I level. For example, Division II schools may give financial aid in football equivalent to 36 full scholarships (whereas each school in Division I FBS, the highest level, is allowed 85 individuals receiving financial aid for football), although some Division II conferences limit the number of scholarships to a lower level. Division II scholarship programs are frequently

4158-518: The press, and pulled stunt after stunt to try to get his football team to win. He once tried to play a female student as a place kicker, but referees wouldn't allow it. At least once, he dressed cheerleaders and other students in football uniforms and had them sit on the bench to fool opposing teams into thinking he had a bigger team and more depth that reported. Frustrated with the lack of football recruits, Welch resigned suddenly as coach and AD on December 6, 1938. Welch's assistant, Stafford H. Cassell ,

4235-534: The program with a significant amount of new funding and make AU into a national wrestling powerhouse. Since the Patriot League did not offer wrestling as a sport, AU's wrestling team affiliated with the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association , the nation's oldest wrestling conference, beginning with the 2002–2003 season. The wrestling program was helped after AU closed its men's and women's tennis and golf programs at

4312-425: The recipients of student-athletes transferring from Division I schools; a transfer student does not have to sit out a year before resuming sports participation as would usually be the case in the event of transferring from one Division I institution to another. Several exceptions to this rule currently exist, of which three are the most significant. First, football players transferring from a Division I FBS school to

4389-409: The same number of scholarships as Division I members. If the Division I scholarship limit is higher than the Division II limit, the D-II member must annually file a declaration of intent to compete under Division I rules with the NCAA prior to June 1. Additionally, if the NCAA sponsors a Division I championship but not a Division II championship in a given sport, D-II members are allowed to compete in

4466-616: The same region, that do not count in official statistics for either team. Under NCAA rules, Division I teams are allowed to play two exhibition games in a season and must host these games. The University of Kansas helps the state's four Division II members by rotating them onto the Jayhawks' exhibition schedule annually. Milwaukee , which has been a Division I member since 1990, has continued its series with their former Division II rival Parkside as part of their exhibition schedule. When these exhibition games do happen, there are times when

4543-533: The same standards as US-based D-II members, including US regional accreditation. At the time, Centro de Enseñanza Técnica y Superior (CETYS), which is fully accredited in both the U.S. and Mexico, was seeking to become the first Mexican school to join the NCAA with the backing of the California Collegiate Athletic Association . However, as of 2024, neither CETYS nor the NCAA has made any further announcements regarding such

4620-456: The school in April 1990. In December 1991, Pete Mehlert, men's head soccer coach who led the AU soccer team to a national championship, was fired by O'Donnell after clashing with him repeatedly. In November 1994, Benjamin Ladner became the new president of American University. O'Donnell resigned on June 2, 1995, after Ladner threatened to fire him. Barbara Reimann, associate athletic director,

4697-689: The third straight year by downing Holy Cross 4–2 in the Championship Game. American University formerly featured seven outdoor tennis courts for the use of the intercollegiate tennis teams as well as the university community. They demolished the tennis courts in the spring of 2024 in order to build an expanded athletics facility, the Meltzer Center. Two outdoor basketball courts completed the outdoor recreational facility located next to Reeves Field and behind Bender Arena . AU hosted three Patriot League tennis team championships after joining

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4774-414: The total financial aid each Division II member may award in each sport that the school sponsors. All Division II sports are classified as "equivalency" sports, meaning that the NCAA restricts the total financial aid that a school can offer in a given sport to the equivalent of a set number of full scholarships. This differs from Division I, in which some sports are "head-count" sports in which the NCAA limits

4851-400: The total number of individuals who can receive athletic aid. In another practice that differs from Division I, Division II members are limited to a combined total of 60 scholarship equivalents for men's sports apart from football and basketball. Scholarship limits in bold are identical to those for Division I members in the same sport for the same sex. Most, but not all, of these sports have

4928-405: The track at Reeves Field. AU's field hockey and women's lacrosse teams play on the field at the William I. Jacobs Recreational Complex, which also features a softball diamond and two outdoor sand volleyball courts. AU's field hockey team earned the right to host the 2005 Patriot League Tournament, where American defeated Lehigh University 7–0 in the semifinals before capturing the league crown for

5005-612: The university in 1944 to become the athletic director at Cheshire Academy in Connecticut. Due to the emergency caused by World War II and the limited sports schedule, he was not replaced until Stafford Cassell returned to AU as athletic director on January 3, 1946. During the interim, and during the years of Cassell's second tenure, the AU men's basketball team won the Mason–Dixon Conference championship in 1945, 1946, 1950, and 1951. Cassell resigned on March 10, 1952, to become an aide to new AU President Hurst Robins Anderson . Cassell

5082-526: The university's approach to athletics, made under his predecessor, Dr. Benjamin Ladner , began to bear fruit in championship teams and national press attention. Stability in the athletic director position also contributed to an enhanced athletic program at the university. After a nearly seven-month search, President Kerwin hired Keith Gill as AU's new athletic director on March 21, 2007. Gill had previously been assistant athletic director at Vanderbilt University for two years, Director of Membership Services at

5159-452: The university's longest-serving AD, retiring in 1987 after 22 years on the job. Frailey head previously served for 16 years as coach of the men's swim team, and later coached the men's tennis, golf, and soccer teams. While AD, Frailey moved AU from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I , and hired some of the best basketball coaches in the nation: Gary Williams , later head coach at the University of Maryland ; Jim Lynam , later head coach of

5236-508: Was appointed acting athletic director. On March 3, 1996, AU announced that Lee McElroy would become the university's first African American athletic director, and the first athletic director to have a doctorate. Dr. McElroy had served a single year as AD at the University of the District of Columbia before moving to Sacramento State University in 1989. During his tenure, McElroy hired Art Perry to be men's head basketball coach. But Perry

5313-716: Was fired in March 2000, and President Ladner led the search for Perry's successor (usurping McElroy's role). Ladner also forced McElroy to switch AU's affiliation from the Colonial Athletic Association to the Patriot League . Allegedly frustrated by Ladner's interference, on July 5, 2000, McElroy announced he was resigning to become athletic director at the State University of New York at Albany . From January 1, 2000, to March 31, 2007, American University had five athletic directors. Three of them lasted less than three years, leading to instability and

5390-433: Was frequently competitive in the women's version. Matches between the different collegiate divisions in non-revenue sports are often quite competitive. Indeed, in some sports, among them ice hockey and men's volleyball , there is no Division II national championship. In hockey, many schools whose athletic programs are otherwise Division II compete in Division I, and men's volleyball has a truncated divisional structure with

5467-445: Was head football coach at Washington State University from 1919 to 1922, head football coach at Randolph Macon College from 1923 to 1929, head football coach at the University of Virginia from 1930 to 1933, and AD and head football coach at Haskell Indian Nations University from 1933 to 1936. Welch provide to be highly popular, even though AU had so few students he could barely field an 11-man football team. He told witty stories to

5544-490: Was hired on November 12, 2003. She had previously served as the athletic director at the University of North Carolina at Asheville since 2000 and had been an assistant athletic director and senior associate athletic director at Purdue University for 11 years before that. Comstock resigned on August 24, 2006, to take a position with the NCAA . In November 2005, Dr. Neil Kerwin became president of American University. Changes in

5621-573: Was named Cassell's replacement as athletic director on May 23, 1942. He had previously been the assistant men's basketball and football coach and the head track coach at Beloit College in Wisconsin. But after less than a month on the job, Cooper stepped down to join the U.S. Army. Gustaf Bernhard "Gus" Kalijarvi was named AU's athletic director on August 30, 1942. He had previously served as AD at St. Johnsbury Academy in Vermont . Kalijvari left

5698-565: Was named Welch's successor as AD on February 27, 1939. Cassell was an AU graduate who had played football, basketball, and baseball at the university in the early 1930s, and he was considered a star basketball player. He was named men's basketball coach in 1937. Because of the outbreak of World War II, AU dropped football after the 1941 season. Subsequently, Cassell resigned in March 1942 to become athletic director and head football coach at Morningside College in Iowa . He departed AU in June. Don Cooper

5775-410: Was named his replacement the same day. On October 16, 1931, a new football stadium called "American University Field" was opened. Young resigned as AD on January 30, 1937. He had signaled his intention to resign as AD and head coach of the football and basketball teams in the fall of 1937, but a serious automobile accident in late January prompted him to resign suddenly. On February 4, 1937, AU announced

5852-900: Was not interrupted by the one-year hiatus). Division II institutions have to sponsor at least five sports for men and five for women (or four for men and six for women), with two team sports for each sex, and each playing season represented by each sex. Teams that consist of both men and women are counted as men's teams for sports sponsorship purposes. There are contest and participant minimums for each sport, as well as scheduling criteria—football and men's and women's basketball teams must play at least 50 percent of their games against Division II or Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) or Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) opponents. For sports other than football and basketball there are no scheduling requirements, as long as each contest involves full varsity teams. The only NCAA sport in which contests against club teams can count toward

5929-519: Was replaced in March 1952 by Hugo "Dutch" Schulze, a former captain of the AU men's basketball team and an outstanding football and baseball player at the school in the 1930s. Schulze replaced Artie Boyd as men's head basketball coach, but he was only able to lead the team to a dismal 50–51 record. Schulze resigned on November 8, 1958. David Carrasco was named AU's new AD upon Schulze's retirement on November 8. He resigned in 1964. In 1965, AU hired Robert Frailey as its new athletic director. Frailey became

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