Editing Southwestern Athletic Conference (section)

==History==
{{OSM Location map
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| caption = Location of SWAC members: [[Image:Red pog.svg|10px]] East Division, [[Image:Black pog.svg|10px]] West Division
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In 1920, athletic officials from six Texas HBCUs &mdash; C. H. Fuller of [[Bishop College]], Red Randolph and C. H. Patterson of [[Paul Quinn College]], E. G. Evans, H. J. Evans and H. J. Starns of [[Prairie View A&M]], D. C. Fuller of [[Texas College]] and G. Whitte Jordan of Wiley College, now [[Wiley University]] &mdash; met in [[Houston]] to discuss common interests.  At this meeting, they agreed to form a new league, the SWAC.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

Paul Quinn became the first of the original members to withdraw from the league in 1929. When [[Langston University]] of [[Oklahoma]] was admitted into the conference two years later, it began the migration of state-supported institutions into the SWAC. [[Southern University]] entered the ranks in 1934, followed by Arkansas AM&N (now the [[University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff]]) in 1936 and [[Texas Southern University]] in 1954.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

Rapid growth in enrollment of the state-supported schools made it difficult for the church-supported schools to finance their athletics programs and one by one they fell victim to the growing prowess of the state-supported colleges. [[Huston–Tillotson University|Huston–Tillotson]] (formerly Samuel Huston) withdrew from the conference in 1954,<ref name="Austin American (p. 23)">{{cite web|title=H–T Plans To Resume Grid Sport|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/386622446/?terms=%22Grid%20Sport%22&match=1|work=Austin American (p. 23)|date=September 21, 1955}}</ref> [[Bishop College|Bishop]] in 1956, and Langston in 1957—one year before the admittance of two more state-supported schools: [[Grambling State University|Grambling College]] and [[Jackson State College]]. The enter-exit cycle continued in 1962 when [[Texas College]] withdrew,<ref name="Shreveport Times (sec. D, p. 5)">{{cite web|title=Grambling Grid Slate Announced|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/214245669/?terms=%22Grid%20Slate%22&match=1|work=[[Shreveport, Louisiana|Shreveport]] [[The Times (Shreveport)|Times]] (sec. D, p. 5)|date=June 24, 1962}}</ref> followed by the admittance of Alcorn A&M (now [[Alcorn State University]]) that same year. Wiley left in 1968, the same year [[Mississippi Valley State University|Mississippi Valley State College]] entered. Arkansas AM&N exited in 1970 and [[Alabama State University]] entered in 1982. Arkansas–Pine Bluff (formerly Arkansas AM&N) rejoined the SWAC on July 1, 1997, regaining full-member status one year later. [[Alabama A&M University]] became the conference's tenth member when it became a full member in September 1999 after a one-year period as an affiliate SWAC member.<ref name="History">[http://www.swac.org/conference/history.htm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070704141751/http://www.swac.org/conference/history.htm|date=July 4, 2007}}</ref> Most of the former SWAC members that have left the conference are currently a part of the [[Red River Athletic Conference]] of the [[National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics|NAIA]].

On 3 September 2020, the SWAC had announced that there would be a division realignment with the additions of [[Florida A&M University]] and [[Bethune–Cookman University|Bethune-Cookman University]] beginning with the 2021–22 academic year; which both would compete in the SWAC East, while Alcorn State would be moving to the SWAC West.<ref>[https://swac.org/news/2020/9/3/general-swac-announces-new-divisional-realignment-starting-2021-22.aspx SWAC Announces Division Realignment Starting 2021–22 - Southwestern Athletic Conference]</ref>

===Chronological timeline===
* 1920 — The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) was founded. Charter members included [[Bishop College]], [[Paul Quinn College]], [[Prairie View A&M University|Prairie View State Normal & Industrial College]] (now Prairie View A&M University), [[Huston–Tillotson University|Samuel Huston College]] (Huston–Tillotson University), [[Texas College]] and [[Wiley University]], effective beginning the 1920–21 academic year.
* 1929 – Paul Quinn left the SWAC, effective after the 1928–29 academic year.
* 1932 – [[Langston University|Oklahoma Colored Agricultural and Normal University]] (now Langston University) joined the SWAC, effective in the 1932–33 academic year.
* 1935 – [[Southern University]] joined the SWAC, effective in the 1935–36 academic year.
* 1936 – [[University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff|Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical & Normal College]] joined the SWAC, effective in the 1936–37 academic year.
* 1954 – Huston–Tillotson left the SWAC, effective after the 1953–54 academic year.
* 1954 – [[Texas Southern University]] joined the SWAC, effective in the 1954–55 academic year.
* 1956 – Bishop left the SWAC, effective after the 1955–56 academic year.
* 1957 – Langston left the SWAC, effective after the 1956–57 academic year.
* 1958 – [[Grambling State University|Grambling College]] (now Grambling State University) and [[Jackson State University|Jackson College for Negro Teachers]] (now Jackson State University) joined the SWAC, effective in the 1958–59 academic year.
* 1962 – Texas College left the SWAC, effective after the 1961–62 academic year.
* 1962 – [[Alcorn State University|Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College]] (now Alcorn State University) joined the SWAC, effective in the 1962–63 academic year.
* 1968 – Wiley left the SWAC, effective after the 1967–68 academic year.
* 1968 – [[Mississippi Valley State University|Mississippi Valley State College]] (now Mississippi Valley State University) joined the SWAC, effective in the 1968–69 academic year.
* 1970 – Arkansas–Pine Bluff (UAPB) left the SWAC, effective after the 1969–70 academic year.
* 1973 - Andrew "Wiggie" Brown [http://www.andrewbrownscholars.com] became the first full-time Commissioner; SWAC headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana at the 1 Shell Square building.
* 1982 – [[Alabama State University]] joined the SWAC, effective in the 1982–83 academic year.
* 1997 – Arkansas–Pine Bluff (UAPB) re-joined back to the SWAC as an affiliate member, effective in the 1997–98 academic year.
* 1999 – [[Alabama A&M University|Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University]] joined the SWAC, effective in the 1999–2000 academic year.
* 2021 – [[Bethune–Cookman University]] and [[Florida A&M University|Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University]] (Florida A&M) joined the SWAC, effective in the 2021–22 academic year.