^ More on this from a local newspaper article and how it explains that the MAAC would be a great fit: "LeMura said she has met with the school’s Board of Trustees, leaders of the school’s faculty senate and other faculty members to explain the three options. The school has formed a committee including trustees and faculty members to examine the subject. Forums with faculty and students are expected over the next month.
She has talked with presidents in both the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and the Northeast Conference, two Division I conferences based in the Northeast. A third mid-major conference based in the region is the America East.
“We’re looking at all of them,” LeMura told Syracuse.com. “I can’t tell you with any certainty how closely they’re looking at us. I can tell you they’ve been nibbling around the edges.
“I don’t want to provide misleading information that we have an invitation because we don’t. And if we had one, I can’t tell you right now whether we would accept it.”
LeMoyne Athletic Director Bob Beretta, who was hired last January, said moving up was discussed during his hiring process.
His timetable to examine the idea was sped up last July, when Oklahoma and Texas moved to the SEC.
Beretta expected their decisions would set up another round of realignment in college sports and that the trickle-down effect would cause smaller conferences in the Northeast to lose members and seek new partners.
For Le Moyne to move up to Division I, Beretta said, it would need a conference’s invitation. .
LeMura said it would be important for the conference to be a good fit, providing a league that would be a step up in competition but where the Dolphins could also be competitive. That’s something the school’s consultant is examining.
“The (consultant) is looking at what we spend on athletics by sports and comparing us to the leagues that would be the most logical destinations so we can see where we could potentially fall,” LeMura said.
“Part of the equation is the student experience. We don’t want to go into a Division I league where we can’t be competitive because we don’t spend enough money. On the other hand, and I fully recognize this was an anomalous year, but if you look at our bottom line and compare it with Saint Peter’s, we spent more than they did.”
One of the most logical Division I destinations for Le Moyne would be the MAAC, where Saint Peter’s played last year.
Le Moyne was an associate member of the MAAC until 2007, playing Division I baseball and women’s lacrosse in the league, building rivalries and relationships. The partnership ended when the MAAC began to require all of its schools to compete in all sports at the Division I level.
LeMura, who attended Bishop Grimes, has her own personal ties to the MAAC. She earned an athletic scholarship to play women’s basketball at Niagara and she considers her athletic experience a formative one.
LeMura said she has talked with all of the presidents of the MAAC, and she believes the Dolphins’ candidacy would get the support of old rivals such as Niagara, Canisius and Siena, all of whom might benefit from a rekindled relationship and short trips to Syracuse.
She expects possible objections from schools further south who might decide the league is well-represented in Upstate New York.
“We’re a natural fit in terms of academic profile, size and resources, but our location might not be desirable given they have a strong footprint in Upstate New York,” LeMura said. “It would be fun to see Le Moyne back competing with these schools. But the conference may wish to push more southward so the schools in New Jersey, namely Saint Peter’s and Rider, have better travel situations. That’s complicating things more than you might imagine. Everyone gets a vote.”
If you can, you can view more of the article here:
https://www.syracuse.com/sports/2022...ould-take.html
Also, just for information's sake, here are the 2 zip codes the campus is around:
https://censusreporter.org/profiles/86000US13224-13224/ (as mentioned before on the forum, it has one of the highest black percentages for a middle class zip code in the Interior Northeast, with much of its in the predominantly black Salt Springs neighborhood particularly east of Seeley Road/straddling Mountainview Ave. In fact, here is some information from another thread in another C-D forum which illustrates this in regards to that particular area and the tract that covers the Meadowbrook neighborhood. Percentage goes up to 35% with more inclusive numbers:
https://www.city-data.com/forum/63140483-post1133.html )
https://censusreporter.org/profiles/86000US13214-13214/ (most of the zip code is in DeWitt/Jamesville-DeWitt SD, but includes a portion of Syracuse's East Side/Meadowbrook neighborhood as well, percentage goes up to 15% with inclusive numbers)
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