Location of ODAC members: full member associate member
ODAC logo from 1976 to 2010
The conference was founded in May 1975 as theVirginia College Conference.[1] On January 1, 1976, the name was changed to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. The 1976–77 season was the first in which championships were offered. In 1980,Maryville College joined and became the first member outside of Virginia. In 1981,Catholic University joined the conference after leavingDivision I'sECAC South Conference. In 1982–83, women's sports were added, andHollins College (now university),Randolph–Macon Woman's College (now Randolph College), andSweet Briar College all joined.Mary Baldwin College (now university) joined in 1984. In 1988, Maryville left and was replaced byVirginia Wesleyan College (now university). In 1989 Catholic left the conference to become a charter member of theCapital Athletic Conference, returning in 1999 as a football-only member.[2] They were replaced byGuilford College two years later. The next school to leave the conference was Mary Baldwin, which left in 1992.
In 2010 the ODAC announced the addition ofShenandoah University as a full-time member, with its first full year of involvement during the 2012–13 academic year.[3]
The league office moved its physical location fromSalem, toForest in easternBedford County located just outside centrally locatedLynchburg, Virginia. They also contracted Jim Ward Design for its new marks.[4]
On March 3, 2015, Sweet Briar College announced it was to close (cease operations) at the end of the 2015 summer session.[5] However, on June 20, 2015, the Virginia Attorney General announced a mediation agreement that kept Sweet Briar College open for the 2015–16 academic year.[6] Sweet Briar reactivated its sports teams in the 2015–16 season and remained a full member of the ODAC.
In June 2017, it was announced thatFerrum College would become the 15th full-time member of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference after it moved from theUSA South Conference.
The conference has hosted Division III championships in football and men's basketball, both of which were held inSalem, Virginia. D-III softball has also used Salem as a championship host along with Division III women's lacrosse and volleyball on several occasions. Since 1993 - the conference and city have hosted over 80 Division III national championships.
It was announced on November 17, 2020, that Emory & Henry College, later a university, would leave the ODAC and begin its transition to Division II in July 2021 and compete in theSouth Atlantic Conference in 2022.[9]
The most recent change in conference membership was announced on March 8, 2021, thatAverett University would leave theUSA South and join its former USA South counterpartFerrum College in the ODAC as a full member in 2022.[10]
On September 18, 2023, the ODAC announced that it would add men's volleyball as a sponsored championship sport, beginning the 2025 fall season of 2024–25 academic year, initially with seven full members. At the time of announcement, Eastern Mennonite, Randolph–Macon, and Roanoke had established programs; Averett and Virginia Wesleyan were preparing to play their first varsity seasons in 2024; and Lynchburg and Randolph had committed to starting varsity play in 2025.[11]
On July 3, 2024,Gallaudet University announced that it would join the ODAC as an associate member for football for the 2025 fall season of the 2025–26 academic year.[12]
1984 –Mary Baldwin College (now Mary Baldwin University) joined the ODAC in the 1984–85 academic year.
1988 – Maryville left the ODAC after the 1987–88 academic year.
1989:
Catholic (D.C.) left the ODAC to join theCapital Athletic Conference (now the Coast to Coast Athletic Conference or C2C) after the 1988–89 academic year.
Virginia Wesleyan College (now Virginia Wesleyan University) joined the ODAC in the 1989–90 academic year.
1991 –Guilford College joined the ODAC in the 1991–92 academic year.
1992 – Mary Baldwin left the ODAC after the 1991–92 academic year.
1999 – Catholic (D.C.) rejoined the ODAC as an associate member for football in the 1999 fall season (1999–2000 academic year).
2022 – Southern Virginia and Greensboro joined as associate members in men'swrestling in the 2022–23 academic year.
2023 – The ODAC added men's volleyball for the 2025 spring season (2024–25 academic year), initially with seven full members. At the time of announcement, Eastern Mennonite, Randolph–Macon, and Roanoke had established programs; Averett and Virginia Wesleyan were preparing to play their first varsity seasons in 2024; and Lynchburg and Randolph had committed to starting varsity play in 2025.
^Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
^Represents the calendar year when spring sports competition ends.
^Catholic (D.C.) would later rejoin the ODAC as an associate member for football from the 1999 to 2016 fall seasons (1999–2000 to 2016–17 school years).
^Currently known as Emory & Henry University since 2024.
^Ferrum competed in the ODAC as an associate member for men's and women's swimming from 2015–16 to 2017–18.
^Mary Baldwin was formerly a women's college, therefore it did not offer men's sports during the school's tenure within the conference; but eventually became co-ed since the 2017–18 school year.
^Currently known as Mary Baldwin University since 2016.
^Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
^Represents the calendar year when spring sports competition ends.
^Catholic (D.C.) was a full member of the ODAC from 1981–82 to 1988–89.
^After competing in the ODAC as an affiliate member, Catholic (D.C.)'s football team joined theNew England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) from the 2017 to 2022 fall seasons (2017–18 to 2022–23 school years); before joining in its primary home conference in theLandmark Conference, which they still compete today for all of its other sports, since the 2023 fall season (2023–24 academic year).
^This institution was a women's college, therefore it did not offer men's sports during the school's affiliation within the conference; but eventually became co-ed since the 2023–24 school year.
^After competing in the ODAC as an affiliate member, Notre Dame (Md.) dropped the sport after the 2015–16 school year.
^Southern Virginia remains in the ODAC as an associate member for men's wrestling.
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