Since its modest beginning as the Northeast-7 in 1979, today the nation’s most comprehensive Division II conference has evolved into a membership committed to competitive athletics programs that emphasize the education on and off the field of its more than 5,500 student athletes.

Today’s Northeast-10 Conference remains focused on complementing the academic integrity and missions of the member institutions with a commitment to a broad-based championship program, as evidenced by the 23 sports the Conference offers in championship play, the most such of any Division II conference.

The 16 member institutions are spread geographically from Syracuse, New York to Boston, Massachusetts and Burlington, Vermont to Long Island, New York. Many of the members are located in or around the urban metropolitan areas of Albany, Boston, New Haven, Worcester and New York.

The Conference was proud to welcome the University of New Haven and Adelphi University in its latest expansion, thus adding to the powerful union of strong academic and athletic colleges and universities.

Through the establishment and enforcement of regulations, the conference aims to encourage policies that enable intercollegiate athletics programs to contribute to and be considered an integral part of the total educational offerings at our member institutions.

The Northeast-10 can look to a long history of success including the growth from seven original member institutions to more than double its size almost 30 years later, the contention for and winning of numerous/multiple national championships, and the recognition of student-athlete performances off the field and in the classroom.

The NE-10 history began with the vision of a few good men and women. In 1979 a handful of athletic directors at smaller schools, classified NCAA Division II and of similar scope, academic makeup and athletic abilities composed the idea of a new athletic conference in New England. The visionaries included Al Shields at Bentley, Tom Folliard of Stonehill, Leon Drury of Bryant, and Andy Laska of Assumption. They soon convinced Springfield Athletic Director Ed Steitz, Gordie McCullough of Hartford and Milt Piepul of American International to join them in this new venture.

On October 9, 1979, a simple press release announced that a new unnamed Division II conference was being formed. Eight months later, at the Pleasant Valley Country Club in Springfield, Mass., the league was publicly announced.

The Northeast-7 Conference established instant credibility and its athletics successes led to a slow but continued expansion through the years. The admittance of Saint Anselm in 1981 created the Northeast-8. In 1984, Merrimack joined and then the “Northeast-10” was created upon Saint Michael’s admission in 1987.

The conference membership remained consistent until 1995 when charter member Springfield left for Division III. Le Moyne joined the league in 1996, Pace in 1998 and in 2001, Franklin Pierce, Southern New Hampshire University, the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Southern Connecticut State University and the College of Saint Rose.