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GCAC Getting New Name, New Members Effective July 1

General

GCAC Getting New Name, New Members Effective July 1

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Gulf Coast Athletic Conference will have a new name and three new members effective July 1.
 
Commissioner Kiki Barnes announced Tuesday that the new name will be the HBCU Athletic Conference (HBCUAC), with the tagline "Where Winners Thrive."
 
Barnes said her leadership team worked with Black-owned marketing firm Ten35 for two years before choosing the new name.
 
"We had operated as a conference and a collective of HBCUs since 2010, but there was no ownership," Barnes told the Grio. "We wanted to think about a name that might be more fitting. I'm really excited about leaning into our identity and continuing to grow the conference. We have a strategic plan to get to 16 members."
 
The three new members include Wilberforce University (Wilberforce, OH), Voorhees University (Denmark, S.C.), and Stillman College (Tuscaloosa, AL).
 
The GCAC was founded in 1981 with three HBCUs – Dillard University, Tougaloo College and Xavier-Louisiana – and four primarily white schools located in three Gulf Coast states. The conference was on the verge of collapsing in 2010 with six schools left, leaving four HBCUs as the sole members.
 
"I took over a sinking ship," Barnes said.
 
However, Barnes quickly added Philander Smith, Edward Waters and Voorhees as new members.
 
Starting this summer, the conference will expand to 13 schools – all HBCUs – located in eight states and one U.S. territory.
 
"I've gotten good feedback from coaches and people who have followed our conference and are familiar with what we've been doing," Barnes said. "They're very excited."
 
So are Terrance White, the athletics director at Stillman College, and Vann Newkirk, the president at Wilberforce University.
 
"Similar size schools with similar size missions and visions and values," White told WBRC-TV. "Similar athletic programs, you know, similar students coming from similar backgrounds. All of that turns out to be something that is immeasurable in the long run."
 
Newkirk said the move will give Wilberforce a great lift.
 
"We don't expect to earn millions like the big schools," Newkirk told the Xenia Daily Gazette. "But we know that at our level every penny counts, and running an athletic program is a business. This move will energize our alumni base which in turn will help us increase attendance and overall interest in the University."
 
Barnes said she's excited about the future.
 
"We talk about 'Where winners thrive,' do you know that kind of stories we can tell? There are tons of stories, not just athletics," she said. "This gives us a platform to really advance ourselves and tell the stories of our institutions so they'll have just as much brand recognition as Howard, as Spelman, as Morehouse, as FAMU, as Grambling, Tuskegee and all these schools people have known."
 
Wilberforce fields 10 intercollegiate sports, including men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf, men's and women's track and field, baseball and volleyball.
 
Voorhees also fields 10 intercollegiate sports, including men's and women's basketball, men's and women's track and field, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's indoor track and field, baseball and softball.
 
Stillman fields 11 intercollegiate sports, including men's and women's basketball, men's and women's bowling, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's track and field, volleyball, baseball and softball.
 
Follow the Ambassadors
Visit the official home of Oakwood University athletics at Oakwood University - Official Athletics Website.
 
 
 
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