SPARTANBURG, S.C. – East Tennessee State University, Mercer University and the Virginia Military Institute officially joined the Southern Conference on July 1, 2014.
 
ETSU and Mercer most recently competed in the Atlantic Sun Conference, while VMI was in the Big South Conference. ETSU and VMI are former SoCon members. VMI departed the league in 2003, while ETSU's final season in the conference was 2004-05.
 
"The addition of these three institutions will solidify the Southern Conference and ensure our position as a vibrant league with a bright future," Iamarino said. "Our membership is excited about rekindling old rivalries and establishing new ones. Most importantly, we've been able to grow while not extending our geographic footprint to an extreme extent."
 
Founded in 1911 as East Tennessee State Normal School, ETSU, located in Johnson City, Tenn., claims an enrollment of more than 15,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students. The school, which later became East Tennessee State Teachers College and eventually achieved university status in 1963, boasts 11 colleges and schools at its main campus, located in the northeastern tip of the state, bordered by Virginia and North Carolina.
 
ETSU was a member of the SoCon from 1978-2005 and won the Commissioner's Cup during the 1982-83 academic year. The Buccaneers sponsor 17 sports and will restart the football program, which was dropped in 2003, in time for the 2015 season. A member of the Atlantic Sun since 2005, ETSU flourished in the league, winning the men's all-sports  race each year from 2005-12, the women's all-sports trophy in 2006-07 and the combined all-sports race each year from 2006-12.
 
Founded by Baptists in 1833 and based in Macon, Ga., Mercer is an independent university that remains grounded in a tradition that embraces freedom of the mind and spirit, cherishes the equal worth of every individual, and commits to serving the needs of humankind. With more than 8,300 students enrolled in 12 schools and colleges on campuses in Macon, Atlanta and Savannah, Mercer is consistently ranked among the nation's leading institutions by such publications as U.S. News & World Report and the Princeton Review.
 
The Bears added women's track and field and football – which last played a game in 1941 – for the 2013-14 academic year. Those additions brought Mercer's number of sponsored sports to 18.
 
VMI, founded in 1839 in Lexington, Va., on the site of what was once one of three arsenals in the state of Virginia, is a four-year undergraduate college awarding bachelor of arts and bachelor of science degrees. VMI is the nation's first state-supported military college. Today, with a mission to prepare educated, honorable and steadfast leaders, VMI enrolls nearly 1,600 cadets.
 
As a member of the SoCon from 1924-2003, VMI won several league championships. The Keydets won five gridiron titles in a 12-year span in the 1950s and 1960s and seven overall. VMI also won multiple men's basketball regular-season and tournament titles and a baseball regular-season division title in 1988. The Keydets also produced 31 indoor and outdoor track championships, five cross country championships and 14 regular-season and tournament wrestling championships. VMI has continued to wrestle with the SoCon as an associate member since leaving for the Big South in other sports in 2003. Today, VMI fields 18 varsity sports.
 
Founded in 1921, the Southern Conference has been on the forefront of innovation and originality in developing creative solutions to address issues facing intercollegiate athletics. From establishing the first conference basketball tournament (1921), to tackling the issue of freshman eligibility (1922), to developing women's championships (1984) to becoming the first conference to install the 3-point goal in basketball (1980), the Southern Conference has been a pioneer.
 
The SoCon's membership for the 2014-15 academic year will be as follows: The Citadel, East Tennessee State, Furman, Mercer, UNCG, Samford, Chattanooga, VMI, Western Carolina and Wofford.