Chicago Maroons
| Chicago Maroons | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| University | University of Chicago |
| Conference |
University Athletic Association Midwest Conference |
| NCAA | Division III |
| Athletic director | Erin McDermott |
| Location | Chicago, Illinois |
| Football stadium | Stagg Field |
| Basketball arena | Ratner Athletics Center |
| Other arenas | Henry Crown Field House |
| Mascot | Phoenix |
| Nickname | Maroons |
| Fight song | Wave the Flag |
| Colors | Maroon and White |
| Website | athletics |
The Maroons are the intercollegiate sports teams of the University of Chicago. They are named after the color maroon. Team colors are maroon and gray, and the Phoenix is their mascot. They now compete in the NCAA's Division III, mostly as members of the University Athletic Association. The University of Chicago helped found the Big Ten Conference in 1895; although it dropped football in 1939 (as inconsistent with its academic vision), its other teams remained members until 1946. Football returned as a club sport in 1963, varsity sport in 1969 and began competing independently in Division III in 1973. The school was part of the Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference from 1976 to 1987, and its football team expects to be part of the Midwest Conference beginning in 2017. Stagg Field is the home stadium for the re-instated football team.
The Maroons helped establish the Big Ten Conference (then known as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives, and commonly called the Western Conference) at a follow-up meeting on February 8, 1896. The league initially consisted of Chicago, Purdue, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Northwestern.
Jay Berwanger was awarded the first Heisman trophy in 1935.
Hall of Fame coach Amos Alonzo Stagg coached the football team from 1892-1932, the basketball team from 1920-1921, and the baseball team from 1893-1905 and 1907-1913. He encouraged players to adopt vegetarianism, believing it supported both athleticism and a "gentle and gentlemanly" sportsmanship.
The football team was dropped following the 1939 season.
In explaining the reason to drop football, Robert Maynard Hutchins, the university’s president, had written acidly in The Saturday Evening Post “In many colleges, it is possible for a boy to win 12 letters without learning how to write one.”
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