1973
Aug. 6 — The NCAA votes at a Special Convention to reorganize into three divisions, and the first Division III championships are authorized.
Nov. 10 — The first Division III championship is conducted. Ashland wins the cross country title at Wheaton College (Illinois).
Dec. 8 — Wittenberg wins Division III's first football championship game, the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, in Phenix City, Alabama. Of current Division III members, Wittenberg was the first to win a division championship.
1974
January — The Division III membership votes to ban financial aid based on athletics participation and to use institutional admissions standards to govern eligibility for athletics participation.
March 1-2 — Wilkes wins the first Division III Wrestling Championships.
May 29-31 — The first Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships are conducted in Charleston, Illinois, and won by Ashland.
Nov. 30 — The first Division III Soccer Championship is conducted at Wheaton (Illinois) and won by SUNY Brockport.
1975
March 20-22 — The first Division III Swimming and Diving Championships are conducted at Allegheny College and won by Chico State.
June 10-13 — First Division III Golf Championships are conducted in Martin, Tennessee, and won by Wooster.
Nov. 15 — North Central (Illinois) wins the first of 19 Division III Men’s Cross Country Championships titles between 1975 and 2018 under coach Allen Carius.
1976
May 19-23 — The first Division III Tennis Championships are conducted at Millsaps and won by Kalamazoo, which claimed the first of seven men’s titles between 1976 and 1993 under coach George Acker.
June 4-6 — The first Division III Baseball Championship is hosted by Marietta and won by Stanislaus State.
July 15 — Joan Lange, captain of the men’s swimming and diving team at Allegheny, becomes the first woman in Division III to receive an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.
1978
March 18 — North Park wins the first of five Division III Men’s Basketball Championship titles between 1978 and 1987 (three under coach Dan McCarrell and two under coach Bosko Djurickovic).
1980
Jan. 7-9 — Division III women’s championships are approved in basketball, field hockey, swimming, tennis and volleyball.
March 20-22 — Kenyon, under coach Jim Steen, begins the longest streak of consecutive team championships in any NCAA division with its first victory in the Division III Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships; the streak continues through the 2010 championships with 31 straight victories.
May 25 — Hobart wins the first of 12 straight titles (10 under coach Dave Urick, two under coach B.J. O’Hara) as host of the first Division III Men’s Lacrosse Championship (the school added a 13th title in 1993).
October — The Division III Women’s Basketball Committee becomes the division’s first women’s championship committee to meet.
1981
Jan. 13 — A governance plan including women’s athletics programs and services within the NCAA structure is approved.
May — Marietta wins the first of six Division III Baseball Championship titles extending through 2012. Three of the titles were won under coach Don Schaly and three under coach Brian Brewer.
Nov. 21 — The first Division III women’s championships are conducted in field hockey (won by The College of New Jersey and hosted by Westfield State) and cross country [won by Central (Iowa) and hosted by Carthage College]. The field hockey title was the first of 11 for TCNJ, then known as Trenton State, between 1981 and 2014 (two under coach Melissa Magee and nine under coach Sharon Pfluger).
Dec. 18-19 — The first Division III Women’s Volleyball Championship is conducted at Maryville College (Tennessee) and won by UC San Diego.
1982
March 11-13 — The first Division III Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships are won by Williams and hosted by Massachusetts Boston.
March 19-20 — The first Division III Women’s Basketball Championship is won by host Elizabethtown.
May 28-30 — The first Division III Softball Championship (won by Eastern Connecticut State and hosted by The College of New Jersey) and Division III Women’s Tennis Championships (won by Occidental at Jackson, Mississippi) are conducted.
May 25-29 — The first Divisions III Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships are conducted at North Central (Illinois) and won by Central (Iowa).
1983
Jan. 10-12 — Division III adopts a philosophy statement, culminating a process it initiated at the 1978 Convention to define its principles.
1984
Jan. 9-11 — The creation of the NCAA Presidents Commission is approved.
March 8-10 — Kenyon wins the first of 17 straight Division III Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships team titles (16 under coach Jim Steen and one under Jon Howell). It added six more titles between 2002 and 2009.
March 17 — The first Division III Men’s Ice Hockey Championship was held in Rochester, New York.
1985
March 8-9 — The first Division III Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships are conducted at Bates and won by Massachusetts Boston.
May 19 — The College of New Jersey wins the first Division III Women’s Lacrosse Championship in Philadelphia, claiming the first of its 12 titles between 1985 and 2006.
1986
Nov. 16 — The first Division III Women’s Soccer Championship is conducted at SUNY Cortland and won by Rochester (New York).
1987
May 12-16 — Principia’s Courtney Allen sweeps the singles and doubles titles at the Division III Women’s Tennis Championships to finish her career with six individual titles (singles titles in 1984, 1985 and 1987, and doubles crowns in 1984, 1986 and 1987).
March 16 — New York University’s Michael Lofton becomes the first to win four titles in the same event (sabre) at the National Collegiate Fencing Championships.
1988
March 11-12 — Christopher Newport wins the first of six Division III Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships team titles between 1988 and 1998 under coach Vince Brown.
1989
Jan. 8-12 — The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee is created.
November — SUNY Cortland wins the first of seven Division III Women’s Cross Country Championships between 1989 and 1997 under coach Jack Daniels.
November — Washington University in St. Louis wins the first of 10 Division III Women’s Volleyball Championship titles (seven under coach Teri Clemens and three under coach Rich Luenemann) extending through 2009, including six straight titles beginning in 1991.
1990
September — The Sara Lee Corp. pledges a minimum of $6 million to promote women’s intercollegiate athletics, including the first Woman of the Year award.
1991
January — Judith Sweet, director of athletics at then-Division III member UC San Diego, becomes the first woman to be elected as NCAA membership president.
March — Augsburg wins the first of 10 Division III Wrestling Championships team titles between 1991 and 2007 under coach Jeff Swenson.
1993
December — Mount Union wins the first of 11 Division III Football Championship titles between 1993 and 2012 under coach Larry Kehres.
1994
March — Wisconsin-Oshkosh wins the first of nine Division III Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships titles (including three straight in 1994 through 1996 and again in 2004 through 2006) extending through 2014. Six of the championships were won under coach Deb Vercauteren.
1995
March — Middlebury wins the first of eight Division III Men’s Ice Hockey Championship titles under coach Bill Beaney, including five straight through 1999. The team added three more consecutive titles beginning in 2004.
1996
May — Methodist wins the first of 16 women’s golf championships team titles (three in combined Divisions II and III competition, and 13 in Division III competition), including 15 straight titles beginning in 1998.
1997
Jan. 13 — A membership restructuring is approved. The new governance structure, which is implemented in August, provides a more federated means of governance, along with a greater leadership role for chief executive officers.
June 1 — The NCAA announces it will move its national office from Overland Park, Kansas, to Indianapolis in 1999.
1998
March — Washington University in St. Louis wins the first of four straight Division III Women’s Basketball Championship titles under coach Nancy Fahey. The program added a fifth title in 2010.
1999
March — Wheaton (Massachusetts) wins the first of five straight Division III Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships team titles under coach Paul Souza.
July 27 — The NCAA's new national office opens in Indianapolis.
2000
January — The Division III membership approves automatic qualification of conference champions for division championships.
May 27 — The Division III men’s outdoor track and field title is shared for the first time in the 27-year history of the event. North Central (Illinois) and Lincoln (Pennsylvania) tied with 52 points each.
2002
March — The first Division III Women’s Ice Hockey Championship is won by host Elmira.
2003
January — Swimmer Ashley Jo Rowatt from Kenyon becomes the first NCAA Woman of the Year honoree from a Division III school.
2004
January — Division III delegates approve most of a landmark “Future of Division III” legislative package, including measures to create an electronic financial aid reporting process, eliminate the practice of “redshirting,” and further limit playing and practice seasons.
March — Middlebury wins both the Division III Men’s and Women’s Ice Hockey Championships, beginning a streak of three straight sweeps of the titles.
November — Wartburg’s Missy Buttry becomes the first woman in any NCAA division to win three individual cross country titles.
2005
November — Messiah wins both the Division III Men’s and Women’s Soccer Championships, the first of four times (also in 2008, 2009 and 2012) that it swept the titles.
2006
January — The NCAA celebrates its 100th anniversary. During the NCAA Convention, Division III delegates reaffirmed a 2004 vote to eliminate “redshirting,” amended the philosophy statement to clearly state that athletics should be conducted within institutions’ academic and cultural mission, and increased the minimum sport-sponsorship requirement from 10 to 12 sports.
2008
March 28 — After discussions about the possibility of dividing or subdividing Division III, which has become the NCAA’s largest membership division, more than 80% of members indicate in a survey that they prefer to maintain the division’s current structure.
2009
Jan. 17 — Division III presidents back steps to reshape presidents’ leadership role within Division III, to renew support for the division’s philosophy statement and to promote its identity.
2010
March 20 — Kenyon College wins NCAA record 31st-straight Division III Men’s Swimming and Diving title.
2011
Oct. 16 — Swimmer Laura Barito of Stevens Institute of Technology becomes Division III’s second NCAA Woman of the Year honoree.
2012
Oct. 14 — Cross country and track athlete Elizabeth Phillips of Washington University in St. Louis becomes Division III’s third NCAA Woman of the Year honoree.
April 29 — Springfield captures the first Division III Men’s Volleyball Championship.
2013
January — The membership adopts a proposal to increase the Presidents Council composition from 15 to 18 members and amend the specific representational requirements regarding the enrollment and public/private status of the institutions being represented, as well as the gender composition of the council.
The membership also adopts legislation to specify that any form of electronically transmitted correspondence (e.g., electronic mail, instant messages, text messages) including private communication through a social networking site may be sent to a prospective student-athlete.
Aug. 6 — Division III begins a yearlong 40th anniversary celebration of its establishment in 1973.
2015
January — Division III adopts a standardized celebratory signing form for prospective student-athletes who already have been accepted to an institution.
2016
Oct. 17 — Margaret Guo, a swimmer from MIT, is named the NCAA Woman of the Year.
2017
Oct. 23 — For the second year in a row, a Division III student-athlete is named the NCAA Woman of the Year as Lizzy Crist, a women’s soccer standout from Washington University in St. Louis, receives the award.
2018
January
Division III adopts legislation to allow for each conference and the group of independents to have a representative on the national Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
Division III also adopts legislation to permit students who have graduated from NCAA Division III institutions to participate as graduate or postbaccalaureate students in intercollegiate athletics at the Division III institutions of their choice.
2020
January
Division III adopts legislation to reduce the provisional and reclassifying process from four to three years.
Division III also adds acrobatics and tumbling and wrestling as emerging sports for women.
March 12 — The NCAA Board of Governors cancels the remaining winter and spring championships in all divisions for the 2019-20 school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Aug. 5— Division III championships in fall sports for 2020-21 are canceled as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. The Presidents Council makes the decision to cancel the championships, citing health and safety concerns and related administrative and financial challenges.
2021
Feb. 3 — Due to low participation numbers among member schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Division III winter championships are canceled for the 2020-21 academic year.
2022
January
The Association adopts a new NCAA Constitution.
Division III adopts legislation to use the NCAA Eligibility Center in certifying the amateur status of international student-athletes to provide more consistency and efficiency to the certification process.
Division III grants the Presidents Council the authority to sponsor and adopt emergency legislation under defined circumstances.
Division III adopts legislation to reduce the minimum number of conference members required for automatic qualification for Division III championships from seven to six.
2023
Jan. 12 — Women’s soccer student-athlete Karenna Groff of MIT is named NCAA Woman of the Year, the sixth from a Division III institution.
Jan. 14 — The Division III membership adopts legislation to change the composition of six standing governance committees and of the Management and Presidents Councils.
The Division III membership adopts a new playing and practice seasons structure.
Division III adopts legislation to give the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee a vote at the NCAA Convention.
March 11 — Wisconsin-LaCrosse wins its 19th team title at the Division III Men’s Indoor Track and Field Championships, extending its record.
