The eight member schools of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) compete officially only in athletics. How do they stack up in other categories?
Austin College
SPIRIT: ★★★★★★★★★☆ Both the Gryffindor-esque color scheme and the marsupial mascot of the crimson and gold Kangaroos are quite whimsical in nature, and I love these creative choices.
SMARTS: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ Austin College, with a 53 percent acceptance rate, 69 percent four-year graduation rate and 13:1 student to faculty ratio, received 6/10 stars.
SOCIAL: ★☆☆☆☆ Austin College has 11K likes on their university Facebook page and 1.6K on the athletics Facebook. Meanwhile the university Twitter has 3,452 followers and the athletics 2,167. On Instagram, the university has 3,452 followers and athletics has 802. All those numbers combined add up to 22K, which, when divided by the number of undergrads (1,278), translates to 17 followers per student. 13.3 followers per student are from the numbers of the University pages, while 3.5 per student are from the athletics pages. This is the math I will be applying to the social category.
SPACE: ★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ Austin College was founded in my hometown of Huntsville, Texas, but it relocated early on to the only town more lame — Sherman, Texas. I have yet to confirm whether or not the campus is truly without running water or if the students really have to go to Oklahoma to party, but either way Austin College gets 3/10. While certain parts of the campus are really nice, other parts, partially the theater and the athletic fields, are pretty outdated, not to mention the dorms — half of which double as tornado shelters.
Centenary University
SPIRIT: ★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ Maroon is a classy color, but it’s much too common in the SCAC line up. Besides, Ladies and Gents are the least intimidating nicknames ever, but their beautiful live dog mascot named Skeeter the Catahoula is a plus.
SMARTS: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ 8 students for each faculty member, 64 percent acceptance rate, 42 percent four-year graduation rate.
SOCIAL: ★★★★★ Centenary has an astounding 24 followers per student on the university pages and 9.3 on its athletics pages. Centenary has an advantage, as with 481 students its ratios are raised.
SPACE: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ Centenary University’s 212-acre city campus is located in Shreveport, Louisiana, which, while more culturally significant than Sherman, is still lame. The campus itself is pretty rad for only 481 students. The bright and green landscape is home to a rad amphitheater and a weird but rad gym.
Colorado College
SPIRIT: ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆ Colorado College is one of three SCAC schools with black and gold as its official colors, and one of two SCAC Tigers.
SMARTS: ★★★★★★★★★☆ Colorado College is by far the most impressive SCAC school as far as education, with only 16 percent of applicants accepted, and an 82 percent four-year graduation rate.
SOCIAL: ★★★★☆ Athletic pages have 6.8 followers per undergrad, while the pages representing the prestigious university have 16 followers per undergrad.
SPACE: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ A location at the base of Pike’s Peak should be enough to seal the deal, but the campus itself is also beautiful.
University of Dallas
SPIRIT: ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆ White and royal blue is one of two color schemes not repeated elsewhere in the conference, and possibly the more attractive of the two. However, Crusaders were bad dudes and not a good name for a mascot.
SMARTS: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆ The Catholic school in Irving graduates 63 percent in four years, has 11:1 ratio and an 80 percent acceptance rate.
SOCIAL: ★☆☆☆☆ The Crusaders’ athletics pages have 2.3 fans per undergrad, while their official school pages have 12.8. Three of their last four Instagram posts were pictures of the Pope.
SPACE: ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆ Located in nearby Irving, Texas, U of D manages to avoid all the hustle and bustle of downtown while still being close enough for students to experience all Dallas has to offer. The campus itself is nothing special.
Schreiner University
SPIRIT: ★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ Another maroon? Please. The nickname “Mountaineers” only gets lamer when you consider the school is located in the not-so-mountainous location of Kerrville. Having two mascots, the Mountain Man and Monty the Mountain Lion, doesn’t help, especially since both are male specific beings.
SMARTS: ★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ Schreiner University accepts 91 percent of applicants and graduates 68 percent quickly with a 9:1 ratio.
SOCIAL: ☆☆☆☆☆ Schreiner has 7.9 followers per student on their University pages and 1.9 on athletics pages. Since this is the lowest on both lists, I gave Schreiner zero stars.
SPACE: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ Yes, Kerville is lame, but Schriener’s campus has a pretty cool green space which almost makes up for its lackluster athletic facilities.
Southwestern University
SPIRIT: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ While gold and black are too common to the conference, the fairly original moniker of Pirates has, like Kangaroos, the perfect mix of whimsy and intimidation.
SMARTS: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ Southwestern accepts 45 percent of applicants, 65 percent of whom will graduate in four years.
SOCIAL: ★★☆☆☆ Southwestern’s University pages have a combined 13.5 fans per 1 undergrad, while their athletics pages have 2.4 per undergrad. Along with Trinity, Southwestern is the only SCAC team to have a verified Twitter account, and the only to have a verified athletics Twitter page.
SPACE: ★★★★★★★★★☆ Georgetown is close enough to Austin to still be fun. Southwestern’s theater facilities are incredibly cool. The campus itself is gorgeous and has yellow bikes lying around that anyone can use.
Texas Lutheran University
SPIRIT: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ If we’re considering originality, Bulldog is the best SCAC mascot. A live dog named Lucky attends games. He is adorable. Alas, the gold and black look like bumblebees. Not cool.
SMARTS: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆ While the 43 percent acceptance is nice, only 30 percent of those who attend graduate in four years.
SOCIAL: ★★☆☆☆ TLU has 8.2 followers per student across all platforms on official university pages and 9.2 followers per student on official athletics pages, making the Bulldogs the only school in SCAC whose athletics pages have more fans than the school pages.
SPACE: ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆ Seguin gets some points for being near San Antonio, but it’s not that near. The campus is low-key lame.
Trinity University
SPIRIT: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ Maroon Tigers are classy. They are a little odd together, since Tigers are orange. TU loses points due to lack of originality, especially within this conference.
SMARTS: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ With a 41 percent acceptance rate and a 9:1 student faculty ratio, TU graduates 68 percent of us on time.
SOCIAL: ★★★★☆ Trinity’s Twitter is verified and has the most followers of all of SCAC twitters. Official university pages have 20 followers per undergrad. Athletics pages have 2.4.
SPACE: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ San Antonio is awesome. The campus is beautiful, but loses points for the nearby train.
