General | 6/19/2012 9:35:00 AM

ATLANTA—The Appalachian Athletic Conference Council of Presidents voted to admit SCAD Atlanta as a conference member effective the 2012-2013 academic year.

"We were given a very cordial welcome at the Council of Presidents meeting," said P.J. Johnson, vice president at SCAD Atlanta. "We are extremely thankful to Commissioner John Sullivan for his help and guidance through this entire process. We believe the AAC is an excellent fit for SCAD Atlanta, and we look forward to being a member for years to come."

The AAC sponsors championships in 15 sports: cross country, soccer, basketball, outdoor track and field, golf, baseball, and tennis for men; cross country, soccer, volleyball, basketball, outdoor track and field, golf, softball, and tennis for women. SCAD Atlanta will compete in tennis, golf and cross country for both men and women.

"We are very pleased to welcome SCAD Atlanta to the AAC," said Sullivan. "SCAD Atlanta is relatively new to the NAIA, but they have shown that they are committed to the principles of character-driven collegiate athletics that is a hallmark of this conference. SCAD Atlanta currently offers a limited number of sports for men and women, but with the rapid growth of the institution since 2005 and its inception in Atlanta, it has the potential to add more sports in the future."

Philip Alletto, SCAD vice president for student success, reinforced the importance of having athletics at SCAD.

"At SCAD, we believe that healthy living can be an important characteristic of a successful artist," he said. "That is one reason why athletic competition, along with intramurals, fitness and recreation, is a part of student life at SCAD. These are additional ways that we help students to prepare for creative, professional careers."

The Appalachian Athletic Conference evolved from the Volunteer State Athletic Conference (VSAC), an NAIA conference organized in the 1940s and dissolved in the early 1980s when institutions in the eastern part of the state seceded to form the Tennessee Valley Athletic Conference (TVAC). The conference became the Tennessee-Virginia Athletic Conference (TVAC) when Bluefield College joined in the early 1990s and later the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) with the addition of Montreat College, Alice Lloyd College and Union College in 2001. The conference currently has 10 members in six Southeastern states: Bluefield (Virginia), Bryan (Tennessee), Columbia (South Carolina), Milligan (Tennessee), Montreat (North Carolina), Point (Georgia), Reinhardt (Georgia), Tennessee Wesleyan, Union (Kentucky) and Virginia Intermont.

"This is a great day for SCAD," said Art Malloy, dean of students at SCAD Atlanta. "We look forward to being associated with and competing in such an outstanding conference."