Report: Division I Conference Set to Undergo Name Change in Effort to ‘Modernize’

The Colonial Athletic Association will change its name to the Coastal Athletic Association, according to a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Per Thamel, the conference name change comes as the league continues to expand its footprint down the East coast, giving it an opportunity to “modernize” the name. The logo will remain the same.

The CAA is not the first entity to move away from the term “Colonial.” George Washington University recently retired the moniker and renamed its mascot the “Revolutionaries.”

George Washington retired the former moniker because of the nickname being previously criticized for glorifying colonialism. While the CAA hasn’t explicitly said the same, Thamel implies that moving on from the term “Colonial” in its title is an added benefit of conference expansion and renaming the conference to more closely align with its footprint.