Little East Conference
The Little East Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III. The member institutions are located in all six states of New England.
History
Recent events
On June 16, 2022, the University of New England accepted an invitation to join the Little East as an associate member for women's swimming & diving, beginning the 2022–23 academic year.On August 24, 2022, the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference members announced that they would leave the Little East and be its own separate conference, beginning in the fall season of the 2023–24 academic year.
Chronological timeline
- 1986 – On April 28, 1986, the Little East Conference was founded. Charter members included Eastern Connecticut State University, the University of Massachusetts Boston, Southeastern Massachusetts University, Plymouth State College, Rhode Island College and the University of Southern Maine; beginning the 1986–87 academic year.
- 1993 – Western Connecticut State University joined the Little East in the 1993–94 academic year.
- 1997 – Keene State College joined the Little East in the 1997–98 academic year.
- 2000 – Seven institutions joined the Little East as associate members, all effective in the 2000–01 academic year:
- * Bridgewater State University, Fitchburg State University, Framingham State University, Salem State University, Westfield State University and Worcester State University for field hockey as the MASCAC division in fall
- * and Salem State for men's lacrosse in spring
- 2003 – Salem State added men's tennis into its Little East associate membership in the 2004 spring season.
- 2004 – Two institutions added certain single sports into their Little East associate memberships, both effective in the 2005 spring season :
- * Bridgewater State for men's and women's tennis
- * and Salem State for women's tennis
- 2010 – Three institutions added certain single sports into their Little East associate memberships, all effective in the 2010–11 academic year:
- * Worcester State for women's tennis
- * and Bridgewater State and Westfield State for women's swimming & diving
- 2014 – Bridgewater State left the Little East as an associate member for women's swimming & diving after the 2013–14 academic year.
- 2018 – Castleton University joined the Little East in the 2018–19 academic year.
- 2019 – Massachusetts Maritime Academy joined the Little East as an associate member for men's lacrosse in the 2020 spring season.
- 2020:
- * Worcester State left the Little East as an associate member for women's tennis after the 2020 spring season.
- * Western New England University joined the Little East as an associate member for women's swimming & diving in the 2020–21 academic year; although due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they didn't begin to compete within conference play until 2021–22.
- 2021 – Bridgewater State added men's swimming & diving into its Little East associate membership in the 2021–22 academic year.
- 2022:
- * The University of New England joined the Little East as an associate member for women's swimming & diving in the 2022–23 academic year.
- * Bridgewater State, Fitchburg State, Framingham State, Salem State, Westfield State and Worcester State left the Little East as associate members for field hockey after the 2022 fall season ; as the MASCAC announced to have it as a sponsored sport.
- 2024 – Husson University, Maine Maritime Academy and the State University of New York at Delhi joined the Little East as associate members for men's and women's swimming & diving in the 2024–25 academic year.
- 2025 – Five institutions joined the Little East as associate members, all effective in the 2025–26 academic year:
- * Babson College for men's ice hockey
- * Husson and Westfield State for women's golf
- * and New England College and Norwich University for men's and women's ice hockey
Member schools
Current members
The Little East currently has nine full members, all are public schools:| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Endowment | Nickname | Joined | Colors |
| Eastern Connecticut State University | Willimantic, Connecticut | 1889 | Public | 4,989 | $16.3 | Warriors | 1986 | |
| Keene State College | Keene, New Hampshire | 1909 | Public | 3,213 | $14.0 | Owls | 1997 | |
| Plymouth State University | Plymouth, New Hampshire | 1871 | Public | 4,491 | $28.9 | Panthers | 1986 | |
| Rhode Island College | Providence, Rhode Island | 1854 | Public | 7,523 | $16.4 | Anchormen & Anchorwomen | 1986 | |
| University of Massachusetts Boston | Boston, Massachusetts | 1852 | Public | 16,259 | $92.0 | Beacons | 1986 | |
| University of Massachusetts Dartmouth | Dartmouth, Massachusetts | 1895 | Public | 8,513 | $59.0 | Corsairs | 1986 | |
| University of Southern Maine | Gorham, Maine | 1878 | Public | 8,022 | $38.5 | Huskies | 1986 | |
| Vermont State University-Castleton | Castleton, Vermont | 1787 | Public | 2,399 | $7.86 | Spartans | 2018 | |
| Western Connecticut State University | Danbury, Connecticut | 1903 | Public | 5,246 | $12.8 | Wolves | 1993 |
;Notes:
Associate members
The Little East currently has 12 associate members, all but six are public schools:;Notes:
Former associate members
The Little East had six former associate members, all of which were also public schools:| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Left | LEC sport | Primary conference |
| Bridgewater State University | Bridgewater, Massachusetts | 1840 | Public | 10,651 | Bears | 2000 | 2023 | field hockey | MASCAC |
| Fitchburg State University | Fitchburg, Massachusetts | 1894 | Public | 4,659 | Falcons | 2000 | 2023 | field hockey | MASCAC |
| Framingham State University | Framingham, Massachusetts | 1839 | Public | 4,111 | Rams | 2000 | 2023 | field hockey | MASCAC |
| Salem State University | Salem, Massachusetts | 1854 | Public | 7,242 | Vikings | 2000 | 2023 | field hockey | MASCAC |
| Westfield State University | Westfield, Massachusetts | 1838 | Public | 5,400 | Owls | 2000 | 2023 | field hockey | MASCAC |
| Worcester State University | Worcester, Massachusetts | 1874 | Public | 6,434 | Lancers | 2000 | 2023 | field hockey | MASCAC |
| Worcester State University | Worcester, Massachusetts | 1874 | Public | 6,434 | Lancers | 2010 | 2020 | women's tennis | MASCAC |
;Notes:
Membership timeline
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1986 till:2030
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PlotArea = right:5 left:5 bottom:40 top:5
Colors =
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports
id:FullxF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football
id:AssocF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only
id:AssocOS value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for another sport only
id:OtherC1 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference
id:OtherC2 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference when the other color has already been used
PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:FullxF from:1986 till:end text:Eastern Connecticut State
bar:2 color:FullxF from:1986 till:end text:Massachusetts–Boston
bar:3 color:FullxF from:1986 till:end text:Massachusetts–Dartmouth
bar:4 color:FullxF from:1986 till:end text:Plymouth State
bar:5 color:FullxF from:1986 till:end text:Rhode Island College
bar:6 color:FullxF from:1986 till:end text:Southern Maine
bar:7 color:FullxF from:1993 till:end text:Western Connecticut State
bar:8 color:FullxF from:1997 till:end text:Keene State
bar:9 color:AssocOS from:2000 till:end text:Bridgewater State
bar:10 color:AssocOS from:2000 till:2023 text:Fitchburg State
bar:11 color:AssocOS from:2000 till:2023 text:Framingham State
bar:12 color:AssocOS from:2000 till:end text:Salem State
bar:13 color:AssocOS from:2000 till:end text:Westfield State
bar:14 color:AssocOS from:2000 till:2023 text:Worcester State
bar:15 color:FullxF from:2018 till:end text:Castleton/Vermont State–Castleton
bar:16 color:AssocOS from:2019 till:end text:Massachusetts Maritime
bar:17 color:AssocOS from:2020 till:end text:Western New England
bar:18 shift: color:AssocOS from:2022 till:end text:New England (Me.)
bar:19 shift: color:AssocOS from:2024 till:end text:Husson
bar:20 shift: color:AssocOS from:2024 till:end text:Maine Maritime
bar:21 shift: color:AssocOS from:2024 till:end text:SUNY Delhi
bar:22 shift: color:AssocOS from:2025 till:end text:Babson
bar:23 shift: color:AssocOS from:2025 till:end text:New England (N.H.)
bar:24 shift: color:AssocOS from:2025 till:end text:Norwich
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text:^"Little East Conference membership history"
- > If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following three options 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.
Sports
Conference Sports| Sport | Men's | Women's |
| Baseball | ||
| Basketball | ||
| Cross Country | ||
| Field Hockey | ||
| Golf | ||
| Ice Hockey | ||
| Lacrosse | ||
| Soccer | ||
| Softball | ||
| Swimming & Diving | ||
| Tennis | ||
| Track & Field | ||
| Volleyball |