[MSC] Bethel, Freed-Hardeman and Martin Methodist Renew Rivalries with Mid-South Conference Move

JACKSON, Tenn. -- During a joint press conference at the Jackson Chamber Boardroom in Jackson, Tennessee, the presidents of Bethel University, Freed-Hardeman University and Martin Methodist College announced their schools' transfers to the Mid-South Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Teams will first compete in their new conference in the 2020-21 academic year.

"It is not often that you have a chance to simultaneously welcome three new conference members who have the outstanding commitment to academic and athletic excellence that Bethel University, Freed-Hardeman University and Martin Methodist College do," stated Eric Ward, Mid-South Conference Commissioner. He said, "On behalf of the Mid-South Conference presidents and athletic directors, I thank Presidents Walter Butler, David Shannon and Mark Labranche for sharing our vision and for their belief in our mission. Our conference leadership believes that the Mid-South is one of the NAIA's premier conferences; the addition of these three outstanding institutions lends even more credence to that assertion."