American Rivers Conference Explained

The American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III. From 1927 until August 9, 2018, it was known officially as the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) and commonly as the Iowa Conference.

History

Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Association began in 1890.^{[1] [2]} The A-R-C dates back to December 8, 1922, when representatives from 12 colleges from the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Association merged. Charter members were Buena Vista College, Central University of Iowa, Ellsworth College, Iowa Wesleyan College, Luther College, Morningside College, Parsons College, St. Ambrose College, Simpson College, Upper Iowa University, Western Union College and Penn College. Des Moines University was voted into the conference at that meeting as well.

The first Conference constitution was published in January 1923. Also that year, Judge Hubert Utterback of Des Moines, Iowa was named the first conference commissioner and Iowa Teachers (now known as the University of Northern Iowa) was accepted as a member. Columbia College (now known as Loras College) was admitted in 1926. Ellsworth left the conference in 1927. That spring, the conference's name was changed to the "Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference." After a three-year ban, athletics were reinstated at the University of Dubuque in 1928–29, and it joined the conference in 1929. Wartburg College was admitted to the conference in 1936, beginning competition the following year. Morningside dropped out in 1936 because of inactivity. William Penn was suspended from the conference in 1949 for using ineligible players. The school was back in the conference in 1951, though it did not compete in football until later. In 1951, St. Ambrose and Loras dropped from football competition.

The Iowa Conference reorganized in 1953, effective with the 1954–55 school year. Nine schools remained in the conference: Buena Vista, Central, Dubuque, Iowa Wesleyan, Luther, Parsons, Simpson, Upper Iowa and Wartburg. William Penn was re-admitted to the conference in 1960, effective in the spring of 1962. Parsons left the conference around 1963, while Iowa Wesleyan left effective June 1, 1965. Loras re-joined the conference in 1986, increasing the conference membership to nine schools, which continued until 1997 when Coe and Cornell left the Midwest Conference to join the IIAC. The Conference was at 11 schools until its 80th-anniversary year (2001–02) when William Penn decided to leave and switch its affiliation from the NCAA to the NAIA. The IIAC became a nine-school conference when Upper Iowa reclassified to NCAA Division II prior to the start of the 2003–04 academic year and fell back to eight schools with Cornell's return to the Midwest Conference following the 2011–12 academic year.

The conference expanded beyond the borders of Iowa in 2016 with the addition of Nebraska Wesleyan University.^[3] On August 9, 2018, the league changed its name to the American Rivers Conference to reflect its current makeup.^[4]

Chronological timeline

• 1922 – On December 8, 1922, the American Rivers Conference was founded as the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Association (IIAA). Charter members included Buena Vista College (now Buena Vista University), Central University of Iowa (now Central College), Des Moines University, Ellsworth College (now Ellsworth Community College), Iowa Wesleyan College (later Iowa Wesleyan University), Luther College, Morningside College (now Morningside University), Parsons College, St. Ambrose College (now St. Ambrose University), Simpson College, Upper Iowa College (now Upper Iowa University), Western Union College (later Westmar University) and Penn College (now William Penn University), beginning the 1922–23 academic year.
• 1923 – Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa) joined the IIAA in the 1923–24 academic year.
• 1926 – Columbia College of Iowa joined the IIAA in the 1926–27 academic year.
• 1927:
  • Ellsworth left the IIAA after the 1926–27 academic year.
  • The IIAA was rebranded as the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) during the spring season, beginning the 1927–28 academic year.
• 1929:
  • Des Moines U. left the IIAC as the school ceased operations after the 1928–29 academic year.
  • The University of Dubuque joined the IIAC in the 1929–30 academic year.
• 1935 – Northern Iowa left the IIAC fully align with the North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NCIAC) after the 1934–35 academic year.
• 1936 – Morningside left the IIAC to fully align with the NCIAC after the 1935–36 academic year.
• 1937 – Wartburg College joined the IIAC in the 1937–38 academic year.
• 1949 – William Penn was suspended for two seasons by the IIAC after the 1948–49 academic year.
• 1951 – William Penn was reinstated back to the IIAC in the 1951–52 academic year.
• 1954 – Loras, St. Ambrose, Westmar and William Penn left the IIAC after the 1953–54 academic year.
• 1960 – William Penn rejoined the IIAC, beginning the 1962 spring season of the 1961–62 academic year.
• 1965 – Iowa Wesleyan left the IIAC after the 1964–65 academic year.
• 1986 – Loras rejoined the IIAC in the 1986–87 academic year.
• 1997 – Coe College and Cornell College joined the IIAC in the 1997–98 academic year.
• 2001 – William Penn left the IIAC for a second time to join the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the Midwest Collegiate Conference (MCC) after the 2000–01 academic year.
• 2003 – Upper Iowa left the IIAC to join the Division II ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as an NCAA D-II Independent (which would later join the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) beginning the 2006–07 academic year) after the 2002–03 academic year.
• 2012 – Cornell left the IIAC to rejoin the Midwest Conference (MWC) after the 2011–12 academic year.
• 2016 – Nebraska Wesleyan University joined the IIAC in the 2016–17 academic year.
• 2018 – On August 9, 2018, the IIAC was rebranded as the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) in the 2018–19 academic year.
• 2026 – Luther will leave the A-R-C to join the MWC after the 2025–26 academic year.

Member schools

Current members

The A-R-C currently has nine full members; all are private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Colors	Joined
Buena Vista University	Storm Lake, Iowa	1891	Presbyterian	2,775	Beavers		1922
Central College	Pella, Iowa	1853	Reformed	1,575	Dutch		1922
Coe College	Cedar Rapids, Iowa	1851	Presbyterian	1,355	Kohawks		1997
University of Dubuque	Dubuque, Iowa	1852	Presbyterian	1,361	Spartans		1929
Loras College	Dubuque, Iowa	1839	Catholic	1,550	Duhawks		1926 1986
Luther College	Decorah, Iowa	1861	Lutheran ELCA	2,573	Norse		1922
Nebraska Wesleyan University	Lincoln, Nebraska	1887	United Methodist	1,600	Prairie Wolves		2016
Simpson College	Indianola, Iowa	1860	United Methodist	1,966	Storm		1922
Wartburg College	Waverly, Iowa	1852	Lutheran ELCA	1,804	Knights		1936

Notes:

Former members

The A-R-C had 11 former full members, all but one were private schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Left	Current conference
Cornell College	Mount Vernon	1853	United Methodist	1,155	Rams	1997	2012	Midwest (MWC)
Des Moines University	Des Moines	1898	Not-for-profit	N/A	N/A	1922	1929	Closed in 1929
Ellsworth College	Iowa Falls	1890	Public	1,000	Panthers	1922	1927	Iowa (ICCAC)
Iowa State Teachers College	Cedar Falls	1876	Public	12,607	Panthers	1923	1935	Missouri Valley (MVC)
Iowa Wesleyan College	Mount Pleasant	1842	United Methodist	850	Tigers	1922	1965	Closed in 2023
Morningside College	Sioux City	1894	United Methodist	1,149	Mustangs	1922	1936	Great Plains (GPAC)
Parsons College	Fairfield	1875	Presbyterian	1,500	Wildcats	1922	1963	Closed in 1973
St. Ambrose College	Davenport	1882	Catholic	2,829	Fighting Bees	1922	1954	Chicagoland (CCAC)
Upper Iowa University	Fayette	1857	Nonsectarian	6,000	Peacocks	1922	2003	Great Lakes Valley (GLVC)
Westmar College	Le Mars	1887	United Methodist	1,000	Eagles	1922	1954	Closed in 1997
William Penn University	Oskaloosa	1873	Society of Friends	1,795	Statesmen	1922 1962	1954 2001	Heart of America (HAAC)

Notes:

Membership timeline

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PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s

bar:1 color:Full from:1922 till:end text:Buena Vista (1922–present)

bar:2 color:Full from:1922 till:end text:Central (Ia.) (1922–present)

bar:3 color:Full from:1922 till:1927 text:Ellsworth C.C. (1922–1927)

bar:4 color:Full from:1922 till:1965 text:Iowa Wesleyan (1922–1965)

bar:5 color:Full from:1922 till:2026 text:Luther (Ia.) (1922–2026)

bar:6 color:Full from:1922 till:1936 text:Morningside (1922–1936)

bar:7 color:Full from:1922 till:1963 text:Parsons (1922–1963)

bar:8 color:Full from:1922 till:1952 text:St. Ambrose (1922–1954) bar:8 color:FullxF from:1952 till:1954

bar:9 color:Full from:1922 till:end text:Simpson (1922–present)

bar:10 color:Full from:1922 till:2003 text:Upper Iowa (1922–2003)

bar:11 color:Full from:1922 till:1954 text:Westmar (1922–1954)

bar:12 color:Full from:1922 till:1949 text:William Penn (1922–1949) bar:12 color:FullxF from:1951 till:1952 text:(1951–1954) bar:12 color:Full from:1952 till:1954 bar:12 color:Full from:1962 till:2001 text:(1962–2001)

bar:13 color:Full from:1922 till:1929 text:Des Moines (1922–1929)

bar:14 color:Full from:1923 till:1935 text:Northern Iowa (1923–1935)

bar:15 color:Full from:1926 till:1952 text:Loras (1926–1954) bar:15 color:FullxF from:1952 till:1954 bar:15 color:Full from:1986 till:end text:(1986–present)

bar:16 color:Full from:1929 till:end text:Dubuque (1929–present)

bar:17 color:Full from:1936 till:end text:Wartburg (1936–present)

bar:18 color:Full from:1997 till:end text:Coe (1997–present)

bar:19 color:Full from:1997 till:2012 text:Cornell (Ia.) (1997–2012)

bar:20 shift:(-40) color:Full from:2016 till:end text:Nebraska Wesleyan (2016–present)

bar:N color:green from:1922 till:1927 text:IIAA bar:N color:blue from:1927 till:2018 text:Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference bar:N shift:(-20) color:green from:2018 till:end text:American Rivers Conference

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TextData = fontsize:M textcolor:black pos:(0,20) tabs:(400-center) text:^"American Rivers Conference membership history"

1. > If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following three options (use only the colors that are used in the graphic.) Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space.

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Sports

Notes

Men's sponsored sports by school

See also: American Rivers Conference men's basketball tournament.

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross Country	Football	Golf	Soccer	Swimming & Diving	Tennis	Track & Field (Indoor)	Track & Field (Outdoor)	Wrestling	Total A-R-C Sports
Buena Vista												10
Central												10
Coe												11
Dubuque												10
Loras												11
Luther												11
Nebraska Wesleyan												11
Simpson												11
Wartburg												10

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the American Rivers Conference that are played by American Rivers schools

School	Gymnastics	Ice Hockey	Lacrosse	Shooting Sports	Volleyball
Coe
Dubuque		NCHA
Loras					CCIW
Simpson					Independent
Wartburg

Notes

Women's sponsored sports by school

School	Basketball	Cheer & Dance	Cross Country	Golf	Soccer	Softball	Swimming & Diving	Tennis	Track & Field (Indoor)	Track & Field (Outdoor)	Volleyball	Wrestling	Total A-R-C Sports
Buena Vista													11
Central													11
Coe													11
Dubuque													11
Loras													12
Luther													11
Nebraska Wesleyan													11
Simpson													12
Wartburg													11

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the American Rivers Conference that are played by American Rivers schools

School	Gymnastics	Shooting Sports	Triathlon
Central			Independent
Coe			Independent
Simpson	Independent
Wartburg

Notes and References

1. Iowa. https://search.lib.uiowa.edu/primo-explore/fulldisplay/01IOWA_ALMA21421336140002771/ Retrieved Jul 26, 2025
2. The Muscatine Journal. May 16, 1890.https://www.newspapers.com/image/542191031/?match=1&amp;terms=%22Iowa%20Intercollegiate%20Athletic%20Association%22 Retrieved Jul 26, 2025
3. News: Nebraska Wesleyan to Join Iowa Conference in 2016-17. Nebraska Wesleyan University. July 20, 2015. July 21, 2015.
4. #RiversRise; Iowa Conference Now American Rivers Conference . American Rivers Conference . August 9, 2018 . August 9, 2018.