LONG BEACH--July 1 is a day that the Pacific West Conference has had circled on the calendar for a long time.

It's now official, three schools join the conference on this day, boosting the membership total from 11 to 14. Jessup University, Menlo College and Vanguard University will all play a PacWest schedule in 2024-25 in their first year of NCAA provisional membership. Additionally, Westmont begins year number two in the NCAA process.

All four schools are eligible to compete for regular season PacWest championships in 2024-25, but cannot compete in NCAA postseason play until year three of the process. 

All four schools are former members of the Golden State Athletic Conference (NAIA), as are five current members of the PacWest. 

"We are thrilled to add Jessup, Menlo and Vanguard into the Pacific West Conference," said Commissioner Jessica Harbison Weaver. "Additionally, we salute Westmont for successfully moving into year two of the NCAA membership process. These schools are a great fit for our conference with a shared commitment to community, academics and athletics excellence."

The addition of the three schools gives the PacWest campuses in three more California locations--Atherton (Menlo), Rocklin (Jessup) and Costa Mesa (Vanguard). Menlo and Jessup join the northern California pod with Academy of Art (San Francisco) and Dominican (San Rafael), while Westmont (Santa Barbara) and Fresno Pacific (Fresno) represent the central valley and central coast. 

Vanguard will have a chance to renew its rivalry with neighbor Concordia (Irvine) in Orange County, along with other former GSAC schools in southern California, Biola (La Mirada), Azusa Pacific (Azusa) and Point Loma (San Diego). 

Three schools from Hawai`i give the PacWest 14 total members and add to the stature of being the most scenic conference in the country. Hawai`i Pacific and Chaminade (Honolulu), along with Hawai`i Hilo (Big Island) give the PacWest a unique geographical stamp. Additionally, the PacWest has affiliate members for tennis in Colorado (MSU Denver and Colorado Mesa). 

The PacWest sponsors championships in 15 sports, including men's and women's soccer, men's and women's cross country, women's volleyball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's golf, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's track and field, softball and baseball. 

The Pacific West Conference enters its 32nd season in 2024-25, born in 1992 as a merger between the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and the Continental Divide Conference. Over the years, its membership has included universities from Hawai`i, Washington, Oregon, Montana, Utah, California, Arizona, Alaska and New Mexico.

To read more about the history of the PacWest, click here.