The University of St. Thomas, a private college in the Twin Cities, generated major buzz last week when it received a $75 million check for a new basketball and hockey arena — the largest university donation in the state of Minnesota and the ninth-largest in college sports history.
Read more about the move St. Thomas is making HERE
But the historic donation from philanthropists Lee and Penny Anderson was fueled by an even bigger achievement: St. Thomas is in the process of becoming the first NCAA school to ever jump directly from Division III to Division I.
The Tommies are the only program jumping two divisions — a process that will take five years.
- The move began when the school was kicked out of its D-III conference in 2019 for being too good.
- A year later, St. Thomas was approved for all sports to join D-I leagues: the Summit League, The Pioneer League for football, the Central Collegiate Hockey Association for men’s hockey and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association for women’s hockey. But while the department has made the leap, there’s a provision period during which the NCAA could technically send the school back down if it doesn’t meet requirements.
- The process is one year longer than the four-year D-II to D-I standard. The school took one year to go from D-III to D-II standards, and will take the next four to fortify itself as a D-I school.
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Author: David Keech
David Keech is a retired teacher and works as a sportswriter, sports official and as an educational consultant. He has reported on amateur sports since 2011, known as 'KeechDaVoice.' David can be reached at [email protected]
