Sun Conference


The Sun Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the NAIA. Eight of the twelve full member institutions are located in Florida, with three in Georgia and one in South Carolina. The Sun Conference competes in the NAIA in all sponsored sports.

History

The conference was created in March 1990 as the Florida Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, and renamed to the Florida Sun Conference in 1992. Charter members consisted of Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University, Flagler College, Florida Memorial University, Nova University of Advanced Technology, Palm Beach Atlantic University, Saint Thomas University, Webber International University and Warner Southern College.
The league later grew to nine members with the addition of Northwood University in 1994. Between 2002 and 2006, Nova Southeastern, Palm Beach Atlantic and Flagler moved to NCAA Division II. But the league was able to recruit new members as Savannah College of Art and Design joined in 2004, followed by Edward Waters College in 2006. It adopted its current name in August 2008 to reflect its expansion to institutions outside of Florida. With the addition of the University of South Carolina at Beaufort in 2007, Johnson & Wales University, Southeastern University and Ave Maria University in 2009, and Thomas University of Georgia in 2012, years, along with Edward Waters’ move to the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference after the 2009–10 season, the league membership stood at 12 schools as of the 2012–13 season.
In 2014, Point University and former member Edward Waters College joined the conference for football only. Starting with the 2016 season, all six football members moved to the Mid-South Conference for that sport. Charter member Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University departed the conference on June 30, 2015 and joined the Sunshine State Conference. In 2017, the College of Coastal Georgia joined the Sun Conference, with the conference again standing at a total of 12 members. In 2018, Sun conference member Keiser added football but Edward Waters left Mid-South. In 2019, Saint Thomas also added football and Florida Memorial re-added the sport after more than 60 years, bringing the number of members participating in football to 8.
On June 25, 2020, Johnson & Wales announced it would close down its North Miami campus at the end of the 2020-21 school year.

Member schools

There are currently 12 full members. Johnson & Wales–North Miami will leave in 2021.

Current members

Former affiliate members

For the 2014 and 2015 football seasons, Edward Waters and Point joined the conference. All six members moved to the Mid-South Conference for the 2016 season. With the exception of Point, which participates in the Appalachian division, these teams plus Faulkner University now form the Sun Division of the Mid-South Conference.
InstitutionLocationFoundedTypeNicknameJoinedLeftSportPrimary
Conference
Edward Waters CollegeJacksonville, Florida1866Private Tigers20142016footballGulf Coast
Point UniversityWest Point, Georgia1937Private Skyhawks20142016footballAppalachian

Membership timeline


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bar:1 color:FullxF from:1990 till:2015 text:Embry-Riddle Aeronautical
bar:2 color:FullxF from:1990 till:2006 text:Flagler College
bar:3 color:FullxF from:1990 till:2020 text:Florida Memorial
bar:3 color:Full from:2020 till:end
bar:4 color:FullxF from:1990 till:2002 text:Nova Southeastern
bar:5 color:FullxF from:1990 till:2003 text:Palm Beach Atlantic
bar:6 color:FullxF from:1990 till:2019 text:St. Thomas
bar:6 color:Full from:2019 till:end
bar:7 color:FullxF from:1990 till:2014 text:Warner
bar:7 color:Full from:2014 till:end text:
bar:8 color:FullxF from:1990 till:2014 text:Webber International
bar:8 color:Full from:2014 till:end text:
bar:9 color:FullxF from:1994 till:2015 text:Northwood
bar:10 color:FullxF from:2004 till:end text:Savannah A&D
bar:11 color:FullxF from:2006 till:2010 text:Edward Waters College
bar:11 color:AssocF from:2014 till:2015 text:
bar:12 color:FullxF from:2007 till:end text:South Carolina–Beaufort
bar:13 color:FullxF from:2009 till:2014 text:Ave Maria
bar:13 color:Full from:2014 till:end text:
bar:14 color:FullxF from:2009 till:2021 text:Johnson & Wales
bar:15 color:FullxF from:2009 till:2014 text:Southeastern
bar:15 color:Full from:2014 till:end text:
bar:16 color:FullxF from:2012 till:end text:Thomas
bar:17 shift: color:AssocF from:2014 till:2015 text:Point
bar:18 color:FullxF from:2015 till:2018 text:Keiser
bar:18 color:Full from:2018 till:end
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text:^"The Sun Conference membership history"
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<#

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