George Mason University has entered into a membership agreement to join the Atlantic 10 Conference beginning with the 2013-14 season, school president Ángel Cabrera announced today. The Patriots officially will become members of the 21-sport league on July 1, 2013.
“This is an exciting time for George Mason University,” says Cabrera. “After careful consideration, we have concluded that joining the A-10 is the right move at the right time for Mason.”
It’s also another high-profile loss for the Colonial Athletic Association, which has now seen Mason, Virginia Commonwealth and Richmond leave for the A-10 in recent years and is also losing Old Dominion to Conference USA this year.
George Mason is an original member of the CAA, along with current members James Madison, University of North Carolina at Wilmington and the College of William and Mary, when the conference was formed out of the ECAC South in 1985.
Richmond was also an original member before leaving for the A-10 in 2001. VCU left the CAA after a 17-year run that ended last year.
The CAA obviously has hurt feelings, confirming in a statement from the league office today that Mason’s spring sports teams will be ineligible for conference championships and also declaring that the school will forfeit its projected 2013 conference distribution of approximately $330,000 and future distributions (through 2017 totaling an additional $1.32 million).
George Mason will also pay a minimum liquidated damages fee of at least $1 million, bringing total forfeited funds to $2.65 million.
“We are disappointed by George Mason’s decision to withdraw from the CAA after 30 years as a charter member,” said CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager. “We wish them well as they strive to achieve the same level of competitive success in a new conference. The CAA’s Council of Presidents will continue to aggressively pursue institutions committed to providing the finest academic and athletic opportunities for our student-athletes.”
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