New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference full members
30km 19miles
WPI
Saint Anselm
Salve Regina
Smith
Mount Holyoke
Coast Guard
Springfield
Wheaton
Emerson
MIT
Babson
Wellesley
Clark
Locations of NEWMAC full members Full Football Playing Member Full Non-Football Playing Member Full Women's College member (all a part of Seven Sisters) Future Football Playing Member
The NEWMAC was established in 1998, when the former New England Women's 8 Conference (NEW 8) voted to begin sponsoring conference play and championships for men. At this time, the conference expanded its membership to include Springfield College and the United States Coast Guard Academy.
In March 2012, NEWMAC announced the addition of Emerson College as the 11th full member of the league starting in the 2013–14 academic year. With the addition of Emerson the NEWMAC began re-sponsoring the sport of men's lacrosse, adding an affiliate member, Massachusetts Maritime Academy. In July 2012, the conference welcomed Simmons College as an affiliate member to compete in the sport of rowing.
In February 2022, the Landmark Conference announced that it would begin sponsoring football starting in the 2023–24 season, thus the Catholic University of America, a NEWMAC football affiliate, departed after the 2022–23 season.[5]
On August 19, 2025, the NEWMAC announced that it will add men's volleyball as a sponsored sport, with the first season in spring 2027 (part of the 2026–27 academic year). Full members Emerson, MIT, Springfield, and Wheaton will be joined by associates, being the State University of New York at New Paltz (SUNY New Paltz), New York University (NYU), and Vassar College.[6]
The NEW-8 offered men's sports and was rebranded as the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC), beginning the 1998–99 academic year.
Springfield College and the United States Coast Guard Academy (Coast Guard) joined the NEWMAC in the 1998–99 academic year; thus being the 1st schools with men's and women's sports to join the newly branded conference.
2012 – Simmons University joined the NEWMAC as an associate member for rowing in the 2012–13 academic year.
2013:
Emerson College joined the NEWMAC in the 2013–14 academic year.
The NEWMAC had absorbed the Pilgrim Lacrosse League to re-add men's lacrosse as a sponsored sport, while having the addition of Massachusetts Maritime Academy as an associate member for that sport, beginning the 2014 spring season (2013–14 academic year).
2019 – Massachusetts Maritime left the NEWMAC as an associate member for men's lacrosse after the 2019 spring season (2018–19 academic year).
2023:
Catholic (D.C.) left the NEWMAC as an associate member for football to join the Landmark Conference for that sport after the 2022 fall season (2022–23 academic year); as that conference had announced that it would sponsor that sport, beginning the 2023 fall season (2023–24 academic year).
↑Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
↑Represents the calendar year when spring sports competition ends.
↑Brandeis's women's athletics programs were in the NEWMAC while their men's athletics programs were in the University Athletic Association (UAA). Ever since, the women's athletics programs moved over to the UAA in the 1995–96 school year.[1]
Affiliate members
The NEWMAC currently has four affiliate members, evenly divided between private and public schools.
↑Represents the calendar year when fall sports competition begins.
↑Represents the calendar year when spring sports competition ends.
↑Alpine skiing is a subset of the de facto NCAA Division I sport of skiing, which holds a single coeducational championship meet open to all NCAA divisions and incorporating events in both Alpine and Nordic skiing.
1234De facto Division I sport. The NCAA championships in fencing, gymnastics, rifle, and water polo are open to members of all NCAA divisions. The rifle championship is a single coeducational championship; the other sports have separate men's and women's championships.
↑Becomes an officially sponsored NEWMAC sport in 2026–27.
↑Alpine skiing is a subset of the de facto NCAA Division I sport of skiing, which holds a single coeducational championship meet open to all NCAA divisions and incorporating events in both Alpine and Nordic skiing.
↑De facto Division I sport; the NCAA bowling championship is open to members of all three NCAA divisions through 2026–27. The sport's status with respect to Division III is not expected to be affected by the establishment of a separate Division II championship in 2027–28.
↑Although recognized as part of the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program, Division III has not added that sport to the program.
1234De facto Division I sport. The NCAA championships in fencing, gymnastics, rifle, and water polo are open to members of all NCAA divisions. The rifle championship is a single coeducational championship; the other sports have separate men's and women's championships.