Cornell may be dropping out of the Iowa Conference

Coe and Luther are staying in the Iowa Conference. Cornell might not be.

The presidents of the Iowa colleges confirmed that after taking part in a regularly scheduled meeting last week of the 14 schools in an academic consortium called the Associated Colleges of the Midwest.

Part of the agenda in the Twin Cities was whether to continue discussing the possible formation of an athletics conference with all or some of the ACM schools. Forming such a conference had been broached previously but recently gained steam.

Eight schools (Cornell, Grinnell in Iowa, Wisconsin schools Beloit, Ripon and Lawrence, and Illinois schools Lake Forest, Knox and Monmouth) will continue talking about forming an ACM conference. The six others (Coe, Luther, Colorado College and Minnesota schools St. Olaf, Carleton and Macalester) are content with the leagues they are in.

“We like the Iowa Conference. We're happy to be a part of the Iowa Conference,” Coe President James Phifer said. “We'll see what (else) happens.”

“Our travel costs and missed class time would have been increased significantly,” Luther President Rick Torgerson said. “So for that reason, we have decided not to continue discussing this further.”

The newest member of the ACM (since July 1), Luther was a charter member of the Iowa Conference in 1922. Coe and Cornell joined from the Midwest Conference in 1998.

The seven schools wishing to explore a possible ACM conference with Cornell are Midwest Conference members. Cornell President Les Garner said he hoped the group would have a next-step meeting set up by the end of the year.

“Eighty percent of our students are from outside the state of Iowa,” Garner said. “In fact, the states we draw the next highest number of students are Illinois and Wisconsin ... The attraction (of a new conference) for us is to be able to play where we recruit heavily. We also have high numbers of alumni in those states.”

Garner would not guess whether an ACM conference is inevitable and if his school will be a part of it. He said too many unresolved issues remain.

“I really wouldn't hazard a guess at this point,” Garner said.

Expediency would seem to be important, however.

“I do know it's in our best interest to resolve this as soon as possible,” Cornell Athletics Director John Cochrane said. “I don't like the speculation about our future.”