CCU marks achievements in athletics, academics
Coastal Carolina University is on the cusp of significant change and positive impact for the region, including upcoming affiliation with the expanding Sun Belt Conference as well as academic and community-cultural accomplishments.
The men’s football program has a No. 1 ranking and a season opening victory; the men’s basketball team played in a diplomatic mission in Cuba; men’s soccer is ranked in the top 10. The basketball team had back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament. These achievements in sports accompany the announcement that CCU will join the expanding Sun Belt Conference, one of the 10 college athletic conferences for FBS football programs.
On the community-cultural level, Athenaeum Press at CCU is co-hosting with the Georgetown Library a performance of Gullah music as part of the 2015 Lowcountry Rice Culture Forum, an ongoing project to revive interest in the former rice-growing industry which impacted South Carolina’s arts and culture.
The Freedom Readers Children’s Choir, directed by Eric Crawford, assistant professor of musicology at CCU, will sing on Sept. 19 at 4 p.m. at the Kaminski House Museum in Georgetown. The choir is comprised of middle school students who participate in Freedom Readers after-school programs in Georgetown and Horry counties. Freedom Readers operates in low-income communities, providing tutoring, free books and a positive learning environment.
On the academic level, CCU trustees have approved two new master’s degree programs, a master of arts in health communication and a master of arts in music technology. An announcement from CCU says the health communication program will focus “on tools and strategies that target mass media and markets to facilitate positive health behavioral changes. The music technology degree is designed to teach practical skills that apply to the contemporary field of music, where technology is playing an increasing central role in its creation, performance and delivery.” The new programs are subject to approval by the S.C. Higher Education Commission and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
In a few weeks, university and Sun Belt discussion advanced from exploratory to an offer and acceptance by CCU President David DeCenzo. Coastal has been a charter member of the Big South Conference since 1983. The change will upgrade CCU’s football program to FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) from FCS (Football Championship Subdivision). The Sun Belt affiliation is effective next July for sports other than football. Football will move to FBS over two years, with no post season participation in 2016 in the championship games or bowl possibilities in 2017.
Coastal will expand Brooks Stadium to 20,000-plus seats, more than twice the current capacity. FBS programs must maintain an average minimum attendance of 15,000 over a rolling two-year cycle. Students, CCU staff and Conway area business people and public officials have expressed confidence that the move to the Sun Belt is a good one. They see the obvious potential of more national exposure and the positive impact on the region.
The Sun Belt was formed in 1976 and did not have football until 2001, two years before CCU started its football program. The conference has been through several realignments, as have most college athletic conferences. Especially in recent years, it’s been difficult to keep track of the conference lineups. The highly regarded Southeastern Conference has expanded to 14 teams, adding Texas A & M and Missouri, both from the Big 12 – which as of this season has only 10 members. The University of South Carolina is a member of the SEC.
Clemson University is in the Atlantic Coast Conference, which also has 14 members for football and 15 for basketball, with Notre Dame. The latter has no conference affiliation for football. ACC members now also include teams such as Syracuse and Pittsburgh. The SEC and ACC are “Power Five” conferences, along with the Big Ten, Big 12 and the PAC 12.
The Sun Belt is one of the “Group of Five” conferences with the Mid-American, or MAC, Conference USA, Mountain West and American Athletic. These conferences and members share in bowl playoff revenue.
With Coastal, the Sun Belt will include members in seven states from North Carolina (Appalachian State in Boone) to eastern Texas (UT-Arlington, Texas State in San Marcos). Some of the Sun Belt members have enrollments of over 30,000, three times that of Coastal. In athletic spending, CCU compares with Sun Belt members’ numbers.
DeCenzo sees the move to the Sun Belt as a change that ultimately will help “in branding the university and moving us forward.” While there likely won’t be immediate impact, it will be significant for Coastal – and the Grand Strand – to be in the same FBS category as USC and Clemson.
This story was originally published September 12, 2015 at 6:23 AM with the headline "CCU marks achievements in athletics, academics."