St. Scholastica will begin a varsity football program in 2008.

The school"s board of trustees decided to add Division III football, which will be the 19th varsity sport at St. Scholastica.

"This is in the best strategic interest of our college," said Philip Rolle, chair of the board of trustees. "We have researched this opportunity thoroughly and find that football is a good fit within our broader plans for enrollment management, and will be an enhancement of campus life."

St. Scholastica President Larry Goodwin noted that the new program is the latest in a series of initiatives that have strengthened enrollment and school spirit.

"We have transformed ourselves in recent years in terms of becoming a residential campus, constructing three new apartment buildings and a state-of-the-art wellness center," he said. "Football is one more step in this process of increasing our sense of campus identity."

The move is part of a strategic plan supporting the mission and vision of St. Scholastica, Goodwin said. "This decision doesn"t come in a vacuum," he said. "Enhancements of other sports programs and expansion of academic programs and facilities are in the works."

St. Scholastica is exploring where the team will play. "We have several good options we are investigating," Goodwin said. "Nothing has been decided."

St. Scholastica has a traditional undergraduate enrollment of 1,985. Most of its current 18 varsity sports compete in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference. The UMAC is joining forces with the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for football at that time.

A task force researched adding the sport. The group, headed by faculty member Ann Leja, director of the undergraduate nursing program, voted to recommend beginning a football program. The start-up cost will be about $3.9 million, which would include facilities and hiring a coaching staff. It will be financed by bonding and roughly $1 million in fundraising, said Patrick Flattery, St. Scholastica vice president for finance.

The program is expected to bring 90 new male students to St. Scholastica. Currently St. Scholastica"s student body is 70% female.