Governors State University gets Sports Teams, Joins CCAC
Willie Lipsey is trailblazing as a two-sport athlete at Governors State University in University Park, Ill.
Lipsey ran the fastest time for the college’s cross country team. The 21-year-old junior also starts as a guard on the school’s basketball team.
“I love it here,” said Lipsey, who is maintaining a B average this semester. “I feel like I can only get better [academically and athletically].”
Just a year ago, it was impossible for Lipsey to compete at this level for Governors State because the school didn’t have a “competing” sports program.
Last month, Governors State was accepted into the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC), which includes college teams in Illinois Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin.
The University’s new sports program is part of an attempt to make the school more of a traditional college.
Last year, Governors State opened its first dormitory. And in August, the school welcomed its first sophomore class.
The college, founded in 1969, previously provided classes for college juniors, seniors and graduate students. It mostly attracted students from Illinois’ south suburban community colleges.
But last year, it started classes for freshmen – and this year it added a sophomore class to complete the process of becoming a four-year university.
Now, the university has introduced a full sports program and will compete in the CCAC as part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Association (NAIA).
In the past, the college simply had sports clubs.
“Membership in NAIA and CCAC makes it possible for student-athletes to combine enjoyment of their sport with the first-class education that [Governors State] offers,” said school President Elaine Maimon.
This fall, Governors State started under the NAIA banner for seven sports, including women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, and men’s and women’s basketball.
The school officially participates in the CCAC’s south division program in fall 2016. It joins Calumet College of St. Joseph in Whiting, Ind.; Holy Cross College in Notre Dame, Ind.; Indiana University South Bend, Ind.; Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Ill.; Purdue University Calumet in Hammond, Ind.; Purdue University North Central in Westville, Ind.; the University of St. Francis in Joliet, Ill.; and Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, Ill.
“We are excited to be in one of the toughest conferences in the country, both on and off the court,” said Governors State Athletic Director Anthony Bates. “We hope to continue the CCAC tradition of classroom intellect and hard play in many years to come.”
Bates said he is making sure the athletes are also hitting the books, requiring them to spend at least six hours weekly in the school’s study hall.
“The number one goal is education – not the trophies we win on the court,” Bates said. “It is strictly about education.”
At the same time, Bates, who also is the men’s head basketball coach, wants to see teams excel in competition.
Bates, an African American, also tries to serve as a role model to the school’s 80 athletes, most of whom are black.
At the same time, he said he wants athletes, no matter their race, to excel.
Lipsey, who attended a couple of other colleges before landing at Governors State, said Bates and others staff members at the college are great motivators.
“There is a connection for me here,” said Lipsey, of Homewood. “I connect with the staff and students.”
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