Buzzards Bay, Mass. --  The start of the 2010-11 academic year has brought both excitement and change to the MASCAC, as the conference today officially announced it will change the word “College” to “Collegiate” in its acronym.  The eight-member league will celebrate its 40^th anniversary and begin its fifth decade of excellence by becoming the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference, effective immediately.

In making the announcement earlier today, MASCAC Commissioner Angela Baumann stated that “our conference is proud to reflect the excitement and enhanced overall reputation that our member institutions will now enjoy as universities.  Though today we are changing part of our conference name, the commitment to overall success, both academically and athletically, that our member schools strive for remains as strong as ever, and today we celebrate both our storied past and our rich tradition as a league.”

The MASCAC’s name change resulted from a law enacted by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick last week that changed the name of six member institutions (Bridgewater State, Fitchburg State, Framingham State, Salem State, Westfield State and Worcester State) from College to University, effective October 26^th.  In anticipation of the new university status, Baumann and administrators from three MASCAC institutions held on-going discussions on a possible name change for the conference, and the decision was made to substitute the word “Collegiate” for “College” to mirror the identity of the NCAA, which stands for National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Though the six member institutions will not officially becoming universities until late October, Baumann said that the MASCAC name change will take place immediately.  The law signed last week by Governor Patrick does not affect the other two members of the conference, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

The MASCAC’s change in identity begins what will be a year-long celebration of the conference’s 40^th anniversary, which will kick off formally later this month.