Hiram College of Hiram, Ohio, and Wabash College of Crawfordsville, Ind., have accepted invitations to join the North Coast Athletic Conference.

The expansion brings the NCAC membership to 10 NCAA Division III institutions spanning the states of Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania.

Charter member CaseWestern Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio) will relinquish its NCAC membership and begin participating in the University Athletic Association on a full-time basis next fall.

Founded in 1984, the NCAC is currently in its 15th year of operation. Allegheny College (Meadville, Pa.), Denison University (Granville, Ohio), Kenyon College (Gambier, Ohio), Oberlin College (Oberlin, Ohio), Ohio Wesleyan University (Delaware, Ohio) and The College of Wooster (Wooster, Ohio) are charter members.

Wittenberg University and Earlham College joined the conference in the 1988-89 academic year.

“The addition of Hiram and Wabash will make the conference more balanced and will improve competition,” said Kristin Evans, Wittenberg sports information director. “We look forward to playing them both.”

Hiram and Wabash will compete in all sports except football beginning with the 1999-00 academic year. Competition in football will begin in the fall of 2000.