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Bizarre Sports News: Stumpies Join the NAIA

Saturday, October 17, 2009 , Posted by Christopher Byrne at 9:27 PM, under


I spent two years of my college life at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York. During this time I was cross-enrolled at Syracuse University for Military Science (i.e. Army ROTC), and some of my classmates were from the State University of New York - College of Environmental Science and Forestry, affectionately known as the "Stumpies." 

But we never thought as them as different than Syracuse students because they are so tightly integrated to the Orange culture. In fact, the live as Syracuse students and get a Syracuse degree for a fraction of the price. 

ESF freshmen live on common floors in SU residence halls while taking common sections of lower-division courses as part of the ESF Learning Community program. They can eat in any of SU’s five residential dining halls and the on-campus food court.

Outside the academic realm, the ESF/SU relationship provides students with the complete gambit of activities and sports. Students can join any of the 300 extracurricular SU clubs or activities from the marching band that performs during football games, to the Sour Citrus Society that serves as the pep band for the basketball team, to drama and musical groups, to sports clubs such as hockey or soccer. ESF students can’t participate in SU’s Division I NCAA sports, however that doesn’t mean our students don’t get in on the action.

On The Hill, the seasons are divided in three — football, basketball and lacrosse — giving our student body plenty of opportunity to cheer the Orange on to victory in the Carrier Dome (located right across the street from ESF’s Illick Hall).

At the end of four years, ESF and SU share joint commencement ceremonies in the Dome, and ESF graduates receive a diploma that proudly carries the Syracuse University seal alongside the seal of the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.



Well they do have a separate sports program, albeit a club sports program, that includes a competitive lumberjack team. And in news that may be shocking to people who have the same context that I do, they will start an intercollegiate sports program as part of  NAIA Division III as the "Might Oaks."

The ESF Stumpies, err I mean Might Oaks, have club teams in men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross-country, timber sports (the Woodsmen’s team), and men’s golf. In 2010, the will start competing against other Division III schools across New York State.

Here is the official press release from SUNY-ESF.

SUNY-ESF Joins National Association for Intercollegiate Athletics

Five-year plan for athletics will likely lead to additional teams in the next few years


The SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) has become an official member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).

The college recently learned that its application for membership has been approved.
The NAIA, headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., is the governing body for athletic programs at nearly 300 colleges and universities throughout the United States and Canada. Many NAIA members are smaller colleges like ESF. NAIA membership will provide the guidance and regulatory framework needed to move ESF’s existing sports programs from a club sport level to an intercollegiate schedule of competition beginning in the fall of 2010.

“We are pleased to complete the establishment of ESF’s first official athletic program,” said ESF President Cornelius B. Murphy, Jr. “This is an important step in the expansion of opportunities for our students.”

ESF currently has teams in men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross-country, timber sports (the Woodsmen’s team), and men’s golf. The college is developing a five-year plan for athletics that will likely lead to additional teams being added in the next few years.

ESF’s intercollegiate teams will compete primarily with NAIA and NCAA Division III-level teams from New York and neighboring states. ESF will not offer athletic scholarships. More than 800 ESF students participated in a May 2009 online poll that selected the “Mighty Oaks” as the official name for the college’s athletic teams.

Members of the NAIA Council of Presidents met in Kansas City last week and approved membership applications from ESF and three other schools: Benedictine University at Springfield (Ill.), Central Baptist (Ark.) College, and Warren Wilson (N.C.) College.


“The NAIA welcomes these four institutions and looks forward to working with campus leaders to advance character-driven intercollegiate athletics,” said John Leavens, NAIA senior vice president for membership services. “I am confident these new members share in the long-held mission of the NAIA to promote the education and development of well-rounded students and productive citizens through intercollegiate athletics.”

The NAIA was founded in 1937. The association provides opportunities for more than 45,000 young men and women to achieve academically while competing for the love of the game.

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