All sports except football are currently members of the Summit League. Now a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference, the Leathernecks football team will also move to the Ohio Valley Conference but not until the fall of 2024.
Director of Athletics Paul Bubb says the schools in the new conference are similar to WIU "in enrollment, the size of their home communities, the academic programs they offer, and the athletic budgets each has to work with at the Division 1 level."
The university joined the Summit League and the MVFC in the 1980's.
The Ohio Valley Conference has schools in five states, including Eastern Illinois and SIU-Edwardsville.