RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Great American Conference has produced a commemorative coin to signify the inaugural season of athletic competition in the league that was officially accepted as the 23rd NCAA Division II conference in March of 2011.
The coin features the stacked secondary logo of the GAC on the heads side and the logos of the now-defunct Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference and Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference on the tails side. Each of those conferences were comprised of the nine charter member institutions of the GAC – University of Arkansas at Monticello, Arkansas Tech University, East Central University (Okla.), Harding University (Ark.), Henderson State University (Ark.), Ouachita Baptist University (Ark.), Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Southern Arkansas University and Southwestern Oklahoma State University. Northwestern Oklahoma State University, one of the GAC’s two provisional members, was also a part of the OIC.
“This coin is a great way to symbolize the inaugural season of the Great American Conference,” said GAC Commissioner Will Prewitt. “But, it’s also a significant way we can show respect for the tradition and heritage that our membership brings to the league. The AIC and OIC each represent an extremely notable chapter of small college sports in our region, and we never want to forget that.”
Each of the league’s member institutions will be presented with a commemorative coin during the early portion of the 2011 fall athletic seasons. During the opening weekend of the football season, a special pre-game ceremony will be conducted at the Arkansas Tech vs. Arkansas-Monticello game in Monticello and the Harding vs. Southern Arkansas game in Magnolia. Both games are on Saturday, September 3. Each of those games represent the first conference football contests in the history of the Great American Conference.
The coin, which was manufactured by Northwest Territorial Mint of Dayton, Nevada, will be used during the pre-game coin toss of all football contests hosted by a GAC institution.