Athletics Recap

Illinois Tech Joins NCAA Division III

“If you look at some of the best small schools in the country—MIT, Caltech, the University of Chicago—they are NCAA Division III, so we’re in pretty good company,” says Joe Hakes, Illinois Tech’s director of athletics, from his desk at Keating Sports Center. Beginning this fall term, the university is officially a full member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division III level. Hakes began working on the membership process shortly after arriving on campus in 2014. Coupled with Illinois Tech’s acceptance into the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference, Scarlet Hawks student-athletes will have ample opportunity to engage in postgraduate education, leadership development—and new sports challenges.

“Conferences provide our regular season schedule and access to NCAA tournaments,” explains Hakes. “Our goal from a performance standpoint is to win our conference so that we could go to the NCAA tournament. I think that we’ll surprise some people by getting there sooner than they think we will in some sports.”