February 12, 2025
FERRUM, Virginia—Ferrum College held a watch party on campus Wednesday afternoon, February 12, in anticipation of its official acceptance into membership as an official NCAA Division II institution under the expedited provisional year one process. At approximately 1:15 p.m. EST, school officials received word that the NCAA had approved Ferrum’s request.
With today’s announcement, Ferrum will enter a two-year probationary period as the NCAA assesses the College’s readiness for Division II membership. Before full membership, more on-site visits and other documentation milestones will be required.
Ferrum first joined the NCAA in 1985 as a Division III school. The College joined the Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 1988 and remained with the league, which would eventually become the USA South Athletic Conference, through the 2017-18 school year.
After 30 years in the USA South, Ferrum was offered and accepted membership in the Old Dominion Athletics Conference (ODAC) in the summer of 2018. The Panthers are completing their seventh full year in the ODAC.
When the College administration announced its intention to pursue membership in the NCAA Div. II in the spring of 2024, Ferrum was offered membership in Conference Carolinas.
Conference Carolinas dates back to 1930 and was originally named the North State Intercollegiate Conference, but it was known informally as the Old North State Conference. The league currently includes 15 schools from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Ferrum will be the 16th school.
Ferrum will compete in Conference Carolinas in football, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross country, women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track & field, men’s wrestling, baseball, softball, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s golf, women’s flag football, and women’s lacrosse.
