HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – The Southern Conference wrapped up its 2021 spring meetings at the Sonesta Resort in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, on Thursday. The three-day meetings were attended by the institutional presidents and chancellors, athletic directors, senior woman administrators and faculty athletic representatives, as well as Southern Conference staff.
 
Among the business conducted, the groups discussed: impending name, image and likeness (NIL) legislation, both within the NCAA and Congress; laws and policies around transgender student-athletes; and COVID policies moving forward.
 
The dates for the men’s golf championship will move forward four days at the request of the hosting course, Reynolds Lake Oconee, to move the date off of Easter weekend. The new dates for the championship will be April 22-24, 2022.
 
The groups also reaffirmed that SoCon championship participation will return to the levels utilized prior to the 2020-21 academic year, with all eligible teams participating in league championships for all sports but lacrosse.
 
At the Honors Dinner on Wednesday evening, the SoCon recognized the league’s annual award winners, beginning with the 10 SoCon postgraduate scholarship winners. Among the institutional awards, the Barrett-Bonner Award, given annually to the school with the highest percentage of its student-athletes on the SoCon Honor Roll, went to Mercer for the sixth consecutive year, as the Bears had 83 percent of their student-athletes earn the necessary 3.0 GPA for the year. The D.S. McAlister Award, presented annually to the school judged by the league’s administrators and head coaches to have exhibited the highest degree of sportsmanship, went to Wofford for the seventh time since 2009-10. The Graduation Rate Award went to Samford, which paced the league in the most recent NCAA Graduation Success Rate data.
 
For the second time overall and first time since 1990-91, Furman was awarded the Commissioner’s Cup for fielding the best men’s programs in the league. Samford was recognized for winning the Germann Cup, which honors the school with the top women’s programs, for the third time overall and the first since 2014-15.
 
SoCon Commissioner Jim Schaus delivered his State of the Conference address Thursday afternoon shortly before the close of the meetings. In his remarks, Schaus spoke about the league and its member schools successfully navigating the academic year around the COVID pandemic, the SoCon’s athletic and academic success, the league’s Racial Equity and Justice Task Force and its initiatives, the conference’s progress toward the goals of its strategic plan, and the SoCon’s celebration of 100 years in 2021.
 
“It was a remarkable year despite dealing with the many challenges of COVID,” Schaus said. “We completed all of our regular seasons and championships and provided our champions to the NCAA postseason. We have an incredible membership of 10 quality institutions that continued excellence in athletics, academics and in student-athlete welfare. The conference had many successes, and we look forward to an exciting 2021-22.”