The University of Mobile was admitted in October 1985, Southern University at New Orleans was granted admission in May 1986, Loyola University was admitted in April 1995, and Louisiana State University in Shreveport became a member in April 2000. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina forced Dillard and Xavier (Louisiana) to cancel all athletic competition for the 2005–06 season and Loyola and Southern–New Orleans were able only to compete partially. All schools returned to competition in 2006–07, although in most cases with a reduced number of sports.
On April 17, 2018, it was announced that Rust College had joined the GCAC in the 2018–19 season.[4]
In 2019, Steve Martin resigned from the conference after 5 years to become commissioner of the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges[5]
In 2019, Southern University at New Orleans suspended its sports program.[6]
On September 14, 2020, it was also announced that Xavier (La.) would leave the GCAC for the RRAC[7] and on December 18, Talladega was accepted by the SSAC as a new member.[8] Both departures became effective after the 2020–21 season concluded, coinciding with Fisk's return to the GCAC as published on March 16, 2021.[9] On July 19, it was reported that Edward Waters would leave the GCAC to join NCAA Division II for the first time in its history and re-join the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference the 2021–22 season.[10]
In October 2021, Southern at New Orleans began to offer sports again after adding a student fee to fund them.[11] On January 20, 2022, the GCAC extended its membership to Oakwood University and Wiley College, the conference's first Texas member, in addition to the returning Southern at New Orleans. Oakwood and Wiley joined the conference later in July.[12] On November 3, the GCAC invited the University of the Virgin Islands to become its member in 2023–24, becoming the first four-year institution in a U.S. territory to join an athletic conference affiliated with the NAIA or NCAA in more than a century.[13]
2002 - Talladega left the GCAC to become an NAIA Independent after the 2001-02 academic year.
2002 - Belhaven re-joined the GCAC in the 2002-03 academic year.
2005 - Dillard and Xavier (La.) cancelled all athletic competition while Loyola (La.) and Southern–New Orleans competed in partial competition due to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina during the 2005-06 academic year.
2010 - Six institutions left the GCAC to join their respective new home primary conferences: Loyola (La.), Mobile, Spring Hill and William Carey (with Belhaven for a second time) to join the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC), and Louisiana State–Shreveport (or LSU–Shreveport) to join the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC), all effective after the 2009-10 academic year.
2011 - Philander Smith College joined the GCAC (with Talladega re-joining) in the 2011-12 academic year.
2013 - Voorhees College (now Voorhees University) joined the GCAC in the 2013-14 academic year.
2014 - Fisk left the GCAC to become an NAIA Independent after the 2013-14 academic year.
2015 - Voorhees left the GCAC to become an NAIA Independent after the 2014-15 academic year.
2018 - Rust College joined the GCAC in the 2018-19 academic year.
2019 - Southern–New Orleans left the GCAC due to suspending its athletic program until further notice after the 2018-19 academic year.
2021 - Three institutions left the GCAC to join their respective new home primary conferences: Talladega for a second time to join the SSAC, Xavier (La.) to join the RRAC, and Edward Waters to join the NCAA Division II ranks and re-joining the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC), all effective after the 2020-21 academic year; although Edward Waters would remain in the GCAC to compete in conference tournaments for all sponsored sports during the provisional transition until the end of the 2021-22 academic year.
2021 - Fisk re-joined the GCAC in the 2021-22 academic year.
2022 - Southern–New Orleans announced that it would reinstate its athletics program and rejoin the GCAC, along with new members Oakwood University and Wiley College beginning the 2022-23 academic year.
2022 – The GCAC extended a membership invitation for the 2023–24 academic year to the University of the Virgin Islands, the first from a U.S. territory to join an NAIA or NCAA conference in the 21st century.
Member schools
Current members
The GCAC currently has eight full members; all but one are private schools:
^Currently known as Edward Waters University since 2021.
^Edward Waters remained in the GCAC to compete in conference tournaments for all sponsored sports during the provisional transition until after the 2021–22 school year.
