Note: The Mountain East Conference will formally introduce Frostburg State as a future member of the league at a press conference at the Lane University Center – Atkinson Room (232) on the Frostburg State campus on Thursday, July 12, at 9:30 a.m. The event will be broadcast live here on MountainEast.tv.



BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – The Mountain East Conference announced today that Frostburg State University has accepted an offer of membership from the conference following a unanimous vote of approval by the MEC Board of Directors on June 30. Provisional member status for Frostburg State in the MEC is contingent upon acceptance into the NCAA Division II three-year membership process.



If accepted into the NCAA Division II process, Frostburg State would be slated to begin competition in the MEC beginning with the 2019-20 academic year. Full membership in the MEC will ultimately be contingent upon Frostburg State achieving active membership status in NCAA Division II.



“On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Mountain East Conference, we are very pleased to announce our new association with Frostburg State,” said Dr. Kendra Boggess, Concord University President and Chair of the MEC Board of Directors. “Frostburg State will be a great fit for our league in every way, and we are confident that Frostburg is well positioned to meet the rigors of the NCAA Division II membership process as they begin their efforts to transition from NCAA Division III.”



“We are excited that Frostburg State University has accepted our offer of future Mountain East membership as an important step in its pursuit of NCAA Division II membership,” said MEC Commissioner Reid Amos. “Upon visiting their campus and meeting their leadership, their coaches, and many of their student-athletes, it became clear that Frostburg State not only fits within our geographic footprint, but also aligns well with the values, the goals, and the mission of the Mountain East Conference and its members. Additionally, we expect them to be a highly competitive member of the MEC.”



Frostburg State, located in western Maryland just 30 miles from the West Virginia border, is a public, four-year comprehensive university that has 4,725 undergraduate students and over 600 graduate/doctoral students. It is fully accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and is a member of the University System of Maryland.



“We at Frostburg State believe this opportunity to align with the Mountain East Conference in conjunction with our application to NCAA Division II will allow us to enhance our focus on the student-athlete experience. We were impressed with the quality of competition and attention that would be afforded them in the Mountain East Conference,” said FSU President Ronald Nowaczyk. “We see the MEC and the prospect of a move to Division II as means to ensure that Frostburg State is keeping pace with the changing landscape around us, and it demonstrates our commitment to striking the appropriate level of balance between the student and the athlete.”



The Bobcats currently sponsor 17 of the MEC’s 19 championship sports with eight men’s sports (baseball, basketball, cross country, football, outdoor track and field, soccer, swimming and tennis) and nine women’s sports (basketball, cross country, lacrosse, outdoor track and field, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis and volleyball).



Established in 2013, the Mountain East Conference has quickly established itself as one of the top all-sports conferences in the country. In just five years, MEC institutions have produced two team NCAA Division II champions, seven national finalists and 13 semifinalists. In addition to the athletic success, the MEC recognizes over 1,500 student-athletes annually for their academic success and additionally has had seven “NCAA Elite 90” winners, which honors the individual with the highest cumulative grade-point average at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s 90 championships.