BELMONT, Calif. – On Monday afternoon, Notre Dame de Namur University released an announcement on its future as an institution, which included the discontinuation of athletics at the completion of the 2019-20 academic year.
The school announced that while it is doing everything possible to help students graduate in 2020-21 and keep its doors open, NDNU will not accept any new incoming students. “At its most recent meeting, NDNU’s Board of Trustees made the decision that the university’s first priority at this time is to support those current NDNU students who have the possibility of earning NDNU degrees by the end of spring semester 2021. For other current students, we are working with local colleges and universities to create opportunities for transfer. While NDNU intends to remain in operation through the spring 2021 semester, we have suspended admissions to new students into any of our programs for summer and fall 2020.”
Notre Dame de Namur was the first California university to join the PacWest. The Argonauts joined the conference in the summer of 2006 after previously competing in the Cal Pac Conference. They joined BYU-Hawaii, Hawai`i Hilo, Chaminade, Hawai`i Pacific and Grand Canyon as the sixth member of the conference at the time.
Over the last 14 years, Notre Dame de Namur has won three PacWest titles. In their inaugural season in the PacWest, the Argonauts swept the men’s and women’s soccer titles. In 2008, they hoisted the men’s soccer trophy again, becoming at the time just the third program to have won multiple men’s soccer titles. Last year, the Argos finished in the top-10 in the conference’s Commissioner Cup standings for the first time in seven years, and they were on pace to do the same this year before the season was halted.
“We will miss having Notre Dame de Namur in the PacWest after 14 years of partnership,” PacWest Commissioner Bob Hogue said. “The Argos have been a big part of the PacWest throughout our rise to where we are today, helping us to build a strong conference. I’m thankful for all the memories that NDNU has produced over the years.”
Only three active members of the conference have been a part of the PacWest longer than Notre Dame de Namur. In one of the school’s final athletics events, Jason Gomez won the 800 meters at the Kim Duyst Invitational, and he finished the season as the PacWest leader in both the 800 and 1,500 meters. He was named the PacWest Men’s Track Athlete of the Week.