Gaveliers
NJC’s Gaveliers accepted into the PAC-12

RENO, NV (PNS) – The National Judicial College announced today that its application to join the PAC-12[1] athletic conference has been accepted.

The surprise announcement ended weeks of speculation that the NJC, the nation’s oldest, largest and most widely attended school for judges, might opt out of its agreement to have its new Gaveliers teams compete in the CFC[2] beginning in 2024.

Leaders of the 60-year-old college for judges, which is based in Reno, Nevada, made no secret of their interest in potentially jumping to the better-known, 108-year-old Pac-12. That conference is widely assumed to be open to admitting new members after 10 of its 12 schools announced plans to move to other leagues with more lucrative TV contracts. The departures have prompted legal action and they leave the Pac-12’s future in doubt.

None of that seemed to dampen the judicial college’s enthusiasm for a potential move to the Pac-12.

“We gave serious consideration to Pac-12 affiliation,” NJC Athletics Director Haskel K. McVeigh[3] acknowledged. “But the PAC-12 represents a better alignment of our academic and athletic aspirations.

“In our discussions with Pac-12 officials, it became clear that the conference is committed to a framework of materially existent athletics. The reality is that at this point in our athletics program’s development, we are not in a position to commit to reality.”

McVeigh said a committee of the college’s Board of Directors[4] has been established to explore potential alternatives to reality.

“Like that universe where everyone has hot dogs for fingers,” suggested one committee member, according to a source with knowledge of the committee’s private discussions and condiments.     

Occasionally confused with the Pac-12 athletic conference – now more than ever – the PAC-12 began life as a late-20th-century political action committee or PAC known as the 12-PAC. Its stated mission: “to educate Congress and elect candidates amenable to continued limits on integers 1 through 11.”

Disappointing fundraising totals and the lack of a specific legislative agenda led the 12-PAC to pivot to a more positive and aspirational, goal: 13. But the 9-PAC and the 5-PAC signed a mutual defense pact, negotiated over a six-pack, which sent the 12-PAC packing, along with its pachyderm mascot, only to be reborn as the PAC-12 intercollegiate athletics conference on National Pachysandra Day.

The PAC-12’s organizers are promising high-tech innovations to modernize competitions and improve the fan experience. These include the expanded use of instant replay, an automated ball-strike system (robot umpire) for baseball and softball, and seating equipped for cell phone charging, real-time statistics and betting odds, and glucose monitoring.   

In advance of the Gaveliers’ anticipated PAC-12 debut in 2024, the NJC has begun selling official fan gear, which is real. Gaveliers T-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, mugs, water bottles, mini-footballs and more can be purchased online and at the college’s physical gift shop in Reno. Alumni are encouraged to show their NJC pride by wearing Gaveliers attire to the college’s final 60th anniversary celebration, in Las Vegas on Dec. 7. 

[1] Pseudo Athletic Conference-12

[2] Completely Fabricated Conference

[3] Not a real person

[4] No such entity

Contact:  Ed Cohen  Director of Communications/Marketing  njc-communications@judges.org 

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