Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct misinformation about the benefits the dance team will gain.

The St. Thomas dance team will transition to Division I from the Open Division of the Universal Dance Association in the fall of 2021.

The UDA houses three divisions of college teams: Division IA; Division I; and Open NCAA II, NCAA III, Jr College and NAIA. The announcement came in an email to the dance team from Club Sports Director Kevin Manson.

“Over the next year, I will work with the Athletic Department to help make this move as seamless as possible as the team prepares to compete within their new Division-I grouping,” Manson wrote.

St. Thomas holds 13 UDA national titles in jazz and hip-hop categories; the team also performs at home football games, halftimes of men’s and women’s basketball games, pep rallies, parades and other university-related events.

Although it has been a goal of hers since coming to St. Thomas, junior Maggie Schmaltz was not expecting this decision.

“It’s kind of funny because we used to talk about how that was our goal before we graduated; we wanted to make it a sport, but there was no light at the end of the tunnel it seemed like, so that was really surprising,” Schmaltz said.

Junior Anne Jackson danced at the University of Minnesota as a freshman before transferring to St. Thomas during the fall of her sophomore year, and she feels that some people downplay the dedication that dancing for St. Thomas requires.

“We may be on the side cheering or whatever, and there’s always a common assumption, ‘oh dance teams, are they just cheerleaders? What do they actually do?’ We train as athletes, we come in, in January, seven days a week, and it’s intense,” Jackson said.

The possible benefits of the D-I move have not been finalized by the Athletic Department, but Schmaltz emphasized the importance of gaining access to the training room.

“We’ve had a lot of injuries since I’ve been on the team. There have been multiple concussions, broken ankles and a torn ACL. We’re just kind of on our own when that happens, so it will be really nice to have trainers,” Schmaltz said.

During her sophomore season, former St. Thomas dancer Rachel Van Berkom wasn’t able to use one of these new resources, a trainer, which caused her to dance on a torn ACL.

“I tore my ACL a week before going to nationals, and I didn’t have time to get it checked out because it was a few days before we left. So I danced at nationals with a torn ACL because I didn’t know it was torn,” Van Berkom said. “We quite literally couldn’t have even gone into the trainer’s office for a bag of ice if we needed it, and we did need it.”

According to Schmaltz, the notoriety of St. Thomas dance has been an important pull for prospective students, even if they don’t make the team.

“In the dance world, St. Thomas has a huge reputation,” Schmaltz said. “A lot of people become initially interested in St. Thomas as a university because of the team. I know this year, most of the people who tried out for the team but didn’t quite make it, also ended up going here.”

Joey Swanson can be reached at swan5350@stthomas.edu.