CHICAGO — For the second year in a row, the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference will welcome a university from the state of Wisconsin to join its National Association of Intercollegiate Athletic (NAIA) Midwest-based league.  On Wednesday morning, it was announced that Mount Mary University was  accepted by a vote of the conference’s Executive Committee, led by Judson University President Dr. Gene Crume, at its annual fall meeting last week.

The announcement also means that the league now boasts both Wisconsin-based NAIA programs – Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. being the other – while also making its return to the Milwaukee metropolitan area.  Previous to Mount Mary, Cardinal Stritch University represented Milwaukee as a member of the CCAC before closing its doors following the completion of the Spring, 2023 semester.

“Mount Mary University is very enthusiastic about joining the CCAC,” stated Mount Mary President Dr. Isabelle Cherney.  “This new venture promises to significantly enhance the student experience through collegiate competition with neighboring universities that share our values, uphold similar missions and are conveniently within driving distance.

“Our heartfelt thanks go out to the NAIA and the members of the CCAC for welcoming Mount Mary with open arms.  We are excited to meet our new extended family and embark on this exhilarating journey.”

An all-female university at the undergraduate level, Mount Mary’s athletic history dates back to 1954 when it first aligned with the Athletic Federation of College Women (AFCW).  A current member of the NCAA III Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference, the Blue Angels sponsor a total of five sports: cross country, soccer, volleyball, basketball and softball.  All five are championship sports at the CCAC level.

“What a wonderful opportunity the NAIA and now the CCAC has given us,” noted Natalie Balleto, Mount Mary director of athletics and a former head men’s and women’s volleyball coach at Cardinal Stritch.  “We truly feel we found the perfect ‘neighborhood’ with the NAIA and now our forever home within the CCAC.  We are excited about the opportunities this will provide our student-athletes and the partnerships our coaches can develop within a local conference.

“MMU will work hard to positively represent the NAIA and uphold the stellar reputation of the CCAC.”

The majority of the conference resides in the Chicagoland area with the likes of Governors State University (University Park, Ill.), Judson University (Elgin, Ill.), Olivet Nazarene University (Bourbonnais, Ill.), Saint Xavier University (Chicago), University of St. Francis (Joliet, Ill.) and Trinity Christian College (Palos Heights, Ill.).  Representing the state of Indiana are Calumet College of St. Joseph (Whiting), Holy Cross College (Notre Dame), Indiana University Northwest (Gary) and Indiana University South Bend.  Davenport, Iowa is home to St. Ambrose University, which became the first school to represent the conference from Iowa when it joined the league at the start of the 2015-16 academic year.  Viterbo served as an associate member beginning in 2019 before becoming a full member this fall.

“Mount Mary will make an excellent addition to the NAIA and the CCAC,” said Crume.  “The leadership of President Cherney and her team as well Director of Athletics Natalie Balleto is committed to the best of intercollegiate athletics, which is ensuring that the student-athletes at Mount Mary grow as young people, are academically successful and are competitive in their respective sports.”

The groundwork for the now 76-year-old CCAC stemmed from a meeting of baseball coaches in the fall of 1949. Attending that meeting was Kyle Anderson of the University of Chicago, Ed Glancy of Illinois Institute of Technology, George Boyle of Chicago Teachers College (now Northeastern Illinois University) and Les Miller of the University of Illinois-Chicago Navy Pier. Concordia College joined the group and the first sporting event was a baseball tournament on Memorial Day weekend in 1950 at the University of Chicago’s Stagg Field.

The men’s basketball coaches met in February of 1972 to form their conference sport, which started with the 1973-74 season. The original basketball members were Illinois Institute of Technology, then-Saint Xavier College, Northeastern Illinois University, then-University of Illinois-Chicago Circle, Purdue University Calumet, Trinity Christian College and then-College of St. Francis. The conference also added cross country and tennis in the mid-1970’s and women’s sports in the early 1980’s.

The CCAC will boast 13 member schools when the 2025-26 campaign kicks off next August, maintaining its rank as a nationally-prominent conference within the NAIA.  Mount Mary will become the 35th school to hold membership in the league since its inception when the Blue Angels join the conference next fall.

“The CCAC is excited to return to Milwaukee with the addition of Mount Mary University,” said CCAC Commissioner Jeff Schimmelpfennig.  “Mount Mary’s athletic administrators have a long history with the NAIA and they were looking for a path to an NAIA conference with a Midwest footprint.  The CCAC was a logical choice for both our conference and Mount Mary.

“Our current member schools are excited to grow our conference and Mount Mary’s athletic program together.”

Founded by the School Sisters of Notre Dame, Mount Mary’s roots trace back to 1872.  Originally located in Prairie du Chien, Wis. before moving to Milwaukee in 1929, the school’s first college curriculum went into effect in 1913.