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NEW HAVEN, CT - The Presidents of the thirteen Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) institutions have signed a pledge to support the recently implemented NCAA Division II Game-Environment initiative. The initiative was launched for the 2008-09 academic year. The pledge further signifies the CACC's  commitment to Division II and its community engagement effort. 

The pledge signed by the CACC Presidents reads, "NCAA Division II presidents and chancellors affirm that athletics events should reflect the values of higher education and the mission of each institution. Division II emphasizes learning and development in a personal setting. As chancellors and presidents, we are concerned about the uncivil behavior exhibited at college athletics contests and thereby pledge to work together to make respectful, family-friendly events a standard of the Division II experience."

"The Presidents of the CACC have been the driving force behind the growth and development of the conference and have set the course of the CACC on the  guiding principles of community engagement, sportsmanship and academic achievement," said CACC Commissioner, Dan Mara.  "The unanimous endorsement of the Game Environment Pledge by the CACC Presidents Council is consistent with the conference's mission. The CACC is a proud member of Division II and is firmly committed to the concept of the playing field as an extension of the classroom and intercollegiate athletics as first and foremost an educational experience. This experience is shared by the student-athletes, coaches, administrators and fans of the CACC."

Division II's game-environment initiative is following a success trail similar to that of the division's community-engagement effort blazed several months ago - and the membership is contributing to that success.

The game-environment website created in April (as part of the community engagement page at www.diicommunity.org), is generating the traffic Division II officials had hoped for, and member institutions are submitting ideas on how to improve game environments in the same way they populated the "ideas that work" section on the community-engagement site.

"As with other initiatives that stem from the Division II strategic-positioning platform, we're finding that Division II members are hungry to improve their athletics operations in ways that align with what the division is all about - and to share those ideas they already know will work with other institutions," said Division II Vice President Mike Racy. "The examples of information-sharing that we see again and again with these initiatives represents the type of collaboration in Division II that transcends the competitiveness you often see among athletics programs. When it comes to community engagement and game environment, people are seeing the collective benefit of working together."

The game-environment site is the primary tool in the effort to make Division II athletics contests more civil, comfortable and entertaining. More than just an effort to boost sportsmanship, the Division II game-environment platform is a broader sweep that addresses everything from student-athlete, coach and fan behavior to pep bands, healthy concessions and clean restrooms.