Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson made what was already a wonderful day for Rensselaer hockey even better by publicizing plans to move the Rensselaer women’s hockey team up from Division III to Division I.
President Jackson made the announcement as part of the same speech in which she commented on the passage of Amendment 65-1 and NCAA Proposal 65, which allowed Rensselaer, along with seven other schools, to continue to offer athletic grants-in-aid.
“We have been evaluating our options for moving a women’s varsity sport to Division I for some time,” President Jackson said. “We have a great tradition in ice hockey, making it an appropriate choice as a Division I sport at Rensselaer. We are now drafting a timeline, which will include an application to the Eastern College Athletic Conference.”
The women’s team will be moved to bring Rensselaer in compliance with Title IX, which requires member institutions to offer an equal number of sports for men and women at all levels.
The decision has certainly sparked even more excitement in the Athletic Department, particularly among the women’s team as they will be moving up in the next few years.
“It’s an exciting time at Rensselaer,” said Athletic Director Ken Ralph. “With outstanding student-athletes, a top young head coach in John Burke and our winning tradition, I believe we can make an impact at the Division I level in the not-too-distant future.”
Burke, who took over the team prior to this season after the sudden death of former Head Coach Bill Cahill, was delighted with President Jackson’s pronouncement.
“I am thrilled and the members of the women’s team are thrilled,” Burke said. “We have an opportunity to carry out one of Bill’s goals, which was to compete successfully at the highest level, and we are elated.”
Rensselaer women’s hockey has only been a varsity sport for eight years, since the sport was elevated from a club team beginning in the 1995-1996 season.
The team has enjoyed several exceptional seasons at the D-III level, boasting a 108-83-10 record over eight years.
The Engineers’ best season came just this past year as Rensselaer finished with 20 wins for the first time in school history (20-7-0 overall; 17-3-0 ECAC East) and advanced to the finals of the ECAC Tournament.
The late Bill Cahill won ECAC Coach of the Year honors in 2002-2003, while Julie Vallarelli was selected as ECAC Goaltender of the Year and Julie Welte was honored with the league’s Rookie of the Year award.
Rensselaer is putting together another spectacular season in their 2003-2004 campaign as they are 10-2-2 overall, 6-1-0 in the ECAC East, and ranked tenth in the country in the D-III polls.
