Looks like I’m going to need a "women’s rowing" heading on this message board.
FWIW here’s the reason behind it:
The Patriot League does not dictate its members’ competitive schedules, other than requiring attendance at the championship regatta; therefore the Engineers will continue to race at the Eastern Sprints and against EAWRC squads during the regular season. An associate membership with the Patriot League will allow MIT to adapt to the changes that are occurring in the structure of women’s rowing. Beginning in 2011, the NCAA will grant automatic bids to conference winners for a spot at the NCAA Championship. Since the EAWRC is not an NCAA-recognized conference, the Patriot League membership will provide MIT crew with a competitive home in an established Division I conference and the opportunity to advance to the NCAA National Championship.
It’s a convenient stop for a D-III school with a non-revenue D-I sport to park their sport and still be able to compete for D-I championships. Might it develop into something bigger? Maybe, but my impression in general is that the Johns Hopkins’, MIT’s, and RPI’s of the world are quite happy with their dual citizenship and the only way they’d move up is if the NCAA made it illegal to do it.