Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association is a collegiate athletic conference, mostly consisting of historically black colleges and universities. CIAA institutions affiliate at the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
The twelve member institutions reside primarily along the central portion of the East Coast of the United States of the United States, in the states of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Since a majority of the members are in North Carolina, the CIAA moved its headquarters to Charlotte, North Carolina from Hampton, Virginia in August 2015.
The CIAA sponsors 14 annual championships and divides into north and south divisions for some sports. The most notable CIAA sponsored championship is the CIAA Basketball Tournament having become one of the largest college basketball events in the nation.
History
The CIAA, founded on the campus of Hampton Institute in 1912, is the oldest African-American athletic conference in the United States. It was originally known as the Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association and adopted its current name in December 1950. The conference composes predominantly of Historically Black Colleges and Universities spanning the east coast from Pennsylvania to South Carolina.Founding leaders were Allen Washington and C.H. Williams of Hampton Institute; Ernest J. Marshall of Howard University; George Johnson of Lincoln University ; W.E. Atkins, Charles Frazier, and H.P. Hargrave of Shaw University; and J.W. Barco and J.W. Pierce of Virginia Union University.
Football experiences a major resurgence after going through a period of decline at several member universities. Football was absent from the campus of Saint Augustine's University for nearly three decades, before the administration reinstated it in 2002. Shaw University then brought back its football program in 2003, following a hiatus of 24 years.
Lincoln University, a charter member, added varsity football in 2008 and was readmitted to the CIAA after nearly three decades in Division III. Chowan University joined the CIAA in 2008 for football only. On October 14, 2008, the CIAA Board of Directors admitted Chowan as a full member effective July 1, 2009, the first non-HBCU to play in the conference.
On August 27, 2012, the CIAA announced the appointment of Jacqie Carpenter, the first African-American female commissioner to hold the position.
In 2014, a collection of records, including the original 1912 documents leading to the formation of the CIAA and meeting minutes from 1913 to 1922, were sold at auction after being discovered in a storage locker. The lot sold for $11,500 to an unnamed bidder.
On May 22, 2018, Chowan University announced its athletic department will realign with the Conference Carolinas as a full-member while maintaining an associate relationship with the CIAA for both football and women's bowling.
Conference membership
Current members
- Winston-Salem State — left after the 2005–06 season, re-joined in the 2010–11 season.
- For some sports, the following division alignment goes as follows:
- * CIAA North — Bowie State, Elizabeth City State, Lincoln, Virginia State, Virginia Union, Winston-Salem State
- * CIAA South — Claflin, Fayetteville State, Johnson C. Smith, Livingston, Saint Augustine's, Shaw
Former members
Membership timeline
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1912 till:2024
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:5 left:5 bottom:20 top:5
Colors =
id:line value:black
id:Full value:rgb # all sports
id:FullxF value:rgb # non-football
id:AssocF value:rgb # football-only
id:AssocOS value:rgb # associate
PlotData =
width:15 textcolor:darkblue shift: anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:Full from:1912 till:1995 text:Hampton
bar:2 color:Full from:1912 till:1970 text:Howard
bar:3 color:Full from:1912 till:1960 text:Lincoln
bar:3 color:Full from:2008 till:end text:
bar:4 color:Full from:1912 till:end text:Shaw
bar:5 color:Full from:1912 till:end text:Virginia Union
bar:6 color:Full from:1920 till:end text:Virginia State
bar:7 color:Full from:1921 till:1954 text:VUL
bar:8 color:Full from:1923 till:2011 text:Saint Paul's
bar:9 color:Full from:1924 till:1970 text:North Carolina A&T
bar:10 color:Full from:1926 till:end text:Johnson C. Smith
bar:11 color:Full from:1928 till:1970 text:North Carolina Central
bar:11 color:Full from:1980 till:2007 text:
bar:12 color:Full from:1929 till:1970 text:Morgan State
bar:13 color:Full from:1931 till:end text:Livingstone
bar:14 color:Full from:1932 till:1955 text:Bluefield State
bar:15 color:Full from:1933 till:end text:Saint Augustine's
bar:16 color:Full from:1942 till:1955 text:West Virginia State
bar:17 color:Full from:1945 till:1970 text:Delaware State
bar:18 color:Full from:1945 till:2006 text:Winston-Salem State
bar:18 color:Full from:2010 till:end text:
bar:19 color:Full from:1954 till:end text:Fayetteville State
bar:20 color:Full from:1954 till:1970 text:Maryland-Eastern Shore
bar:21 color:Full from:1957 till:end text:Elizabeth City State
bar:22 color:Full from:1962 till:1996 text:Norfolk State
bar:23 color:Full from:1979 till:end text:Bowie State
bar:24 shift: color:AssocF from:2008 till:2009 text:Chowan
bar:24 color:Full from:2009 till:2019
bar:24 color:AssocOS from:2019 till:end text:
bar:25 shift: color:FullxF from:2018 till:end text:Claflin
bar:N color:yelloworange from:1912 till:1950 text:Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association
bar:N color:yellow2 from:1950 till:end text:Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:10 start:1913
Sports
| Sport | Men's | Women's |
| Baseball | ||
| Basketball | ||
| Bowling | ||
| Cross Country | ||
| Football | ||
| Golf | ||
| Softball | ||
| Tennis | ||
| Track & Field Indoor | ||
| Track & Field Outdoor | ||
| Volleyball |
Men's sponsored sports by school
- Claflin University currently competes as an associate member of Peach Belt Conference in baseball.
Women's sponsored sports by school
- ‡ — D-I sport
Other sponsored sports by school
Conference facilities
CIAA Basketball Tournament
The CIAA is the first NCAA Division II conference to have its tournament televised as part of Championship Week on ESPN. Over 100,000 fans and spectators are in attendance annually and it has become one of the largest college basketball events in the nation. During the week of the tournament, there are many high-profile social and celebratory events associated with the event. The last day of the tournament is known as "Super Saturday" in which the men's and women's tournament champions are crowned. For 15 years, the tournament had an annual $55 million economic impact on Charlotte, North Carolina and was consistently the largest event held in the city every year. The conference was offered better incentives to move it to Baltimore, Maryland which is where it will be held beginning in 2021.| Year | Champion | Venue |
| 1946 | North Carolina College | Turner's Arena |
| 1947 | Virginia State | Turner's Arena |
| 1948 | West Virginia State | Turner's Arena |
| 1949 | West Virginia State | Uline Arena |
| 1950 | North Carolina Central | Uline Arena |
| 1951 | Virginia Union | Uline Arena |
| 1952 | Virginia Union | Hurt Gymnasium |
| 1953 | Winston-Salem State | McDougald Gymnasium |
| 1954 | Virginia Union | McDougald Gymnasium |
| 1955 | Virginia Union | McDougald Gymnasium |
| 1956 | Maryland State | McDougald Gymnasium |
| 1957 | Winston-Salem State | McDougald Gymnasium |
| 1958 | North Carolina A&T | McDougald Gymnasium |
| 1959 | North Carolina A&T | McDougald Gymnasium |
| 1960 | Winston-Salem State | Greensboro Coliseum |
| 1961 | Winston-Salem State | War Memorial Coliseum |
| 1962 | North Carolina A&T | War Memorial Coliseum |
| 1963 | Winston-Salem State | War Memorial Coliseum |
| 1964 | North Carolina A&T | Greensboro Coliseum |
| 1965 | Norfolk State | Greensboro Coliseum |
| 1966 | Winston-Salem State | Greensboro Coliseum |
| 1967 | North Carolina A&T | Greensboro Coliseum |
| 1968 | Norfolk State | Greensboro Coliseum |
| 1969 | Elizabeth City State | Greensboro Coliseum |
| 1970 | Winston-Salem State | Greensboro Coliseum |
| 1971 | Norfolk State | Greensboro Coliseum |
| 1972 | Norfolk State | Greensboro Coliseum |
| 1973 | Fayetteville State | Greensboro Coliseum |
| 1974 | Norfolk State | Greensboro Coliseum |
| 1975 | Norfolk State | Greensboro Coliseum |
| 1976 | Norfolk State | Hampton Coliseum |
| 1977 | Winston-Salem State | Hampton Coliseum |
| 1978 | Norfolk State | Hampton Coliseum |
| 1979 | Virginia Union | Norfolk Scope |
| 1980 | Virginia Union | Norfolk Scope |
| 1981 | Elizabeth City State | Norfolk Scope |
| 1982 | Hampton | Norfolk Scope |
| 1983 | Hampton | Norfolk Scope |
| 1984 | Norfolk State | Norfolk Scope |
| 1985 | Virginia Union | Norfolk Scope |
| 1986 | Norfolk State | Richmond Coliseum |
| 1987 | Virginia Union | Richmond Coliseum |
| 1988 | Virginia State | Norfolk Scope |
| 1989 | Virginia State | Norfolk Scope |
| 1990 | Norfolk State | Norfolk Scope |
| 1991 | Hampton | Richmond Coliseum |
| 1992 | Virginia Union | Richmond Coliseum |
| 1993 | Virginia Union | Richmond Coliseum |
| 1994 | Virginia Union | LJVM Coliseum |
| 1995 | Virginia Union | LJVM Coliseum |
| 1996 | Norfolk State | LJVM Coliseum |
| 1997 | Saint Augustine's | LJVM Coliseum |
| 1998 | Virginia Union | LJVM Coliseum |
| 1999 | Winston-Salem State | LJVM Coliseum |
| 2000 | Winston-Salem State | Entertainment & Sports Arena |
| 2001 | Johnson C. Smith | Entertainment & Sports Arena |
| 2002 | Shaw | Entertainment & Sports Arena |
| 2003 | Bowie State | RBC Center |
| 2004 | Virginia Union | RBC Center |
| 2005 | Virginia Union | RBC Center |
| 2006 | Virginia Union | Charlotte Bobcats Arena |
| 2007 | Elizabeth City State | Charlotte Bobcats Arena |
| 2008 | Johnson C. Smith | Charlotte Bobcats Arena |
| 2009 | Johnson C. Smith | Time Warner Cable Arena |
| 2010 | Saint Augustine's | Time Warner Cable Arena |
| 2011 | Shaw | Time Warner Cable Arena |
| 2012 | Winston-Salem State | Time Warner Cable Arena |
| 2013 | Bowie State | Time Warner Cable Arena |
| 2014 | Livingstone | Time Warner Cable Arena |
| 2015 | Livingstone | Time Warner Cable Arena |
| 2016 | Virginia State | Time Warner Cable Arena |
| 2017 | Bowie State | Bojangles' Coliseum Spectrum Center |
| 2018 | Virginia Union | Bojangles' Coliseum Spectrum Center |
| 2019 | Virginia State | Bojangles' Coliseum Spectrum Center |
| 2020 | Winston-Salem State | Bojangles' Coliseum Spectrum Center |
CIAA cheerleading
One of the signature events of "Super Saturday" at the CIAA Basketball Tournament is the Cheer Exhibition. At the exhibition, CIAA cheer squads showcase elaborate routines to entertain spectators and display their talents. Every cheerleading team in the CIAA is a "Stomp-N-Shake" squad which is a unique style of cheer that is most common among predominately African-American schools and colleges located in the East Coast region.The CIAA is one of the only conferences in the country that has an annual All-Conference Cheerleading Team. The All-Conference Cheerleading Team is a recognition bestowed on select cheerleaders in the conference that exemplify the epitome of school spirit, leadership, athleticism, and academic excellence.
| Institution | Squad name |
| Bowie State University | The "Golden Girls" |
| Chowan University | The "Sapphires" |
| Claflin University | The "Panther Dolls" |
| Elizabeth City State University | The "D'Lytes" |
| Fayetteville State University | "Cheer Phi Smoov" |
| Johnson C. Smith University | The "Luv-A-Bulls" |
| Lincoln University | The "Fe Fe's" |
| Livingstone College | The "La La's" |
| Saint Augustine's University | The "Bluechips" |
| Shaw University | The "Chi Chi's" |
| Virginia State University | The "Woo Woo's" |
| Virginia Union University | The "Rah Rah's" |
| Winston-Salem State University | The "Powerhouse of Red and White" |