A journey dating back to April has crossed the finish line as Ferrum will be the sixteenth college to join Conference Carolinas.

Students, faculty, and staff gathered in the Blue Ridge Mountain Room for the official announcement Feb. 12.

Conference Carolinas Commissioner Chris Colvin gave the official announcement welcoming the Panthers to the conference.

“There was no doubt in our mind at that time that Ferrum would be successful in entering the NCAA Division II membership process,” Colvin said. “Ferrum has a beautiful campus with a great focus on academics, athletics, and great athletics facilities.”

He also said the college has a lot to offer as it enters the DII ranks.

“It will open up doors for the recruiting process that aren’t going to be open at the Division III level,” he said. “Ferrum will also find themselves competing against institutions that are much more like-minded, similarly resourced, similar missions, focus, and demographic of students.”

This transition has been headlined by student-athletes having the opportunity to earn athletic scholarship money for the first time in the college’s history.

Generally, there is a two-year transitional period where teams joining a new conference can’t compete in the post-season. However, Colvin also said there isn’t a transition period to compete for conference championships when the college joins next school year. The college, however, will not be able to compete nationally until the 2027-2028 academic year.

For Conference Carolinas, the countdown to the fall has already begun.

When the 2025-26 school year begins, Ferrum will be the seventh college competing in the conference’s first football season since the 1974-75 academic school year.

“The sport of football is important to us. We will begin to sponsor football again in 2025, and it is going to be an exciting time for us to be a football conference,” Colvin said. “In order for us to be a successful football conference, we need healthy, strong membership. We were able to launch it with six (institutions). Ferrum was able to make it seven, and we are looking to grow it to eight or nine in the next couple of years.”

The Black Hats will be competing against Barton, Chowan, Erskine, UNC Pembroke, North Greenville, and Shorter (who joined the conference this school year).

In the 1950s and into the 80s, the college competed at a Junior College level, moved to NCAA D-III in 1985, and 40 years later, is now transitioning to D-II.

This all hit home for Athletic Director Cleive Adams, who was emotional when speaking to the group.

“This is an incredible moment. I’ve been in and around Ferrum since I was 17 years old, and to know the history and be connected to those who were at the JUCO level, at the transitionary period of Division III, and now be present for the D-II transition is incredible and overwhelming for me,” Adams said.

Adams also addressed the future of athletics on campus.

“The next step is continued growth,” he said. “This entire promotion from Division III to Division II is about institutional growth. We look to work together with our campus partners to continue to grow enrollment, working hard with our alumni family to increase support, and get us back to our roots of being highly competitive on the field and in the classroom.”

President Mirta Martin spoke and said the journey isn’t complete, but just beginning.

“This has been a very short but very long journey in many ways, but it would not be made possible without the help of so many,” Martin said. “The Board of Trustees who’s vision to support this journey, Coach Adams, Alexis (Anderson), Dr. (Karen) Carpenter, Gail (Holley), and so many others.”

Martin went on to praise the students, calling them incredible.

“You all took on the challenge of envisioning a better future that was enlightened with excellence, and you embraced it.,” she said. “I can’t tell you how excited I am to see you all perform at a Division II level with excellence on the field and in the classroom, with dignity, respect, and pride.”

Staff and administration weren’t the only people to inspire and excite those in attendance.

Junior SAC Representative, Sam Whitt, spoke about what the transition should mean to the student-athletes.

“The opportunity for us to play better competition and compete at a higher level is going to help us elevate our play,” he said. “This transition will also put us on a larger scale in terms of visibility, and that will help not just athletics, but the school in general.”

The Panthers are still on their way out of the ODAC for winter and spring sports, but when the school year ends, so will the college’s time competing at a D-III level.

“Today we celebrate, but this is just the beginning,” Martin said. “The foundation is set, the path is clear, and the best is yet to come.”