NEW ORLEANS—Xavier College of Louisiana, a outstanding NAIA-level HBCU with a century-long historical past of educational and athletic excellence, introduced Monday that it’s going to turn out to be a full member of the Southern States Athletic Convention (SSAC) efficient July 1, 2026.
The choice follows a unanimous vote by the SSAC Board of Presidents earlier this month, signaling a big realignment throughout the Nationwide Affiliation of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) panorama.
The transfer marks Xavier’s fourth full-time convention affiliation for the reason that inception of its athletic packages. The college beforehand competed within the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Convention (SIAC) from 1935 to 1960, the Gulf Coast Athletic Convention (GCAC) from 1981 to 2021, and most not too long ago, the Crimson River Athletic Convention (RRAC), the place it has been a member since 2021.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Xavier College of Louisiana as a full member of the SSAC,” mentioned Mike Corridor, convention commissioner. “Their historical past of educational and athletic achievement strengthens our convention at each degree.”
Tutorial Success
Corridor pointed to Xavier’s latest top-25 end within the Learfield Administrators’ Cup standings as a testomony to the HBCU’s broad-based athletic success in NAIA. The Administrators’ Cup ranks collegiate athletic packages primarily based on their efficiency throughout a number of sports activities.
Xavier won’t wait till 2026 to compete within the SSAC ecosystem. Three of its packages, aggressive cheer, males’s indoor observe and discipline, and girls’s indoor observe and discipline, will take part as affiliate members through the 2025-26 season.
The SSAC, based in 1999, contains establishments throughout Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Its present members embody Loyola College (New Orleans), William Carey College (Hattiesburg, Miss.), College of Cell (Cell, Ala.), and 9 others throughout the Southeast.
For Xavier, the transfer carries each strategic and historic significance. The New Orleans-based HBCU will renew convention rivalries with Loyola, Cell, and William Carey. Three faculties it incessantly confronted throughout its tenure within the GCAC, together with as not too long ago because the 2009-10 tutorial yr.
“We’re excited to hitch the Southern States Athletic Convention,” mentioned Xavier Athletic Director Pat Kendrick. “We stay up for the excessive degree of competitors and the chance to reignite longstanding rivalries.”
Xavier President Reynold Verret echoed these sentiments, including, “Becoming a member of the Southern States Athletic Convention affirms our dedication to excellence and expands alternatives for our scholar-athletes to thrive each within the classroom and in competitors.”
The transition additionally indicators the top of Xavier’s five-year tenure within the RRAC. Earlier than formally exiting, the college plans to compete for not less than 12 RRAC championships through the 2025-26 season.
