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Northeastern University is newest CAA member

6:31 p.m., June 23, 2004--Northeastern University will join the Colonial Athletic Association, of which the University of Delaware has been a member since 2001, it was announced Wednesday afternoon by CAA Commissioner Thomas E. Yeager.

Northeastern will enter both the CAA athletic conference and the Colonial Academic Alliance effective July 1, 2006.

“The CAA is excited to add Northeastern University to an already impressive list of academic institutions,” Yeager said. “The Huskies bring a quality, broad-based program to the CAA that will expand our reach into the highly desirable New England corridor. An institution that fits so well both academically and athletically, Northeastern will be a significant addition to the athletic and academic profile of the conference. The 2006-07 season promises to be an eventful year in terms of the growth and evolution of the conference.”

Founded in 1985, the Colonial Athletic Association includes the University of Delaware, Drexel University, George Mason University, Hofstra University, James Madison University, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Old Dominion University, Towson University, Virginia Commonwealth University and the College of William & Mary. Last month, Georgia State University, a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference, announced that it would also join the CAA in 2006.

The addition of Northeastern will bring the CAA’s membership total to 12 and give the conference a geographic footprint that stretches from Boston to Atlanta. By adding the nation’s sixth-ranked media market, the league will have a presence in five of the nation’s nine largest metropolitan areas­New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta.

The Huskies will also field the sixth Division I-AA football team in the conference, satisfying NCAA conference requirements for potential sponsorship.

“Northeastern has increasingly expanded its recruiting arm and admission efforts beyond Massachusetts and New England into the Mid-Atlantic region, so it’s critical that our teams are represented in that part of the country,” Northeastern Director of Athletics Dave O’Brien said. “It’s an honor to be invited to join a group of prestigious institutions that have well-established academic and athletic histories. Furthermore, CAA member schools cover a wide geographic footprint in the East that will expose our teams to thousands more alumni, fans and potential students.”

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