The Frontier Conference announced that Dickinson State University will be entering as a full-time member. The Blue Hawks are located in Dickinson, North Dakota and have been a Frontier Conference institution in the past, competing from 2012-2014 before leaving for the North Star Athletic Association, where they have been presently.
In a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Frontier Conference commissioner Dr. Scott Crawford gave his reasoning for why adding another school to the fold makes sense now.
“With six full-time member schools, it was imperative that we at least get to seven and hopefully more to really protect our interests and protect the integrity of what the NAIA defines as a member conference,” Crawford said.
“Adding a school of the caliber of Dickinson State University both academically and athletically just further reinforces what the Frontier Conference is doing,” Crawford continued.
In the same presser, Dickinson State athletic director and head football coach Pete Stanton shared that his sports departments are led by Montana-based coaches and student-athletes and that it will be a seamless transition.
“We have a lot of connections to the Montana schools in the Frontier Conference with our competition that we’ve played in many of our sports,” Stanton said. “We have four head coaches of our teams right now that are Montana natives and just over a quarter of our 400 athletes are Montana students as well. There’s a very strong connection with the athletes and coaches that we have on campus.”
Dickinson State University will officially rejoin the Frontier Conference for the 2025-26 academic season.
