College Fencing Is Booming. We Want to Hear Your Story.
With NCAAs on deck, new programs launching and the first standalone women’s team title up for grabs, USA Fencing is building a college fencing alumni network.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — College fencing is having a moment.
Last weekend, NCAA Regionals unfolded at four sites across the country — at Vassar, Haverford, Cleveland State and the University of the Incarnate Word — as hundreds of student-athletes competed for the chance to fence at nationals.
And the stakes have never been higher: Beginning March 19, the NCAA’s best fencers will gather at the Joyce Center on the campus of the University of Notre Dame for the 2026 NCAA Fencing Championships.
This year’s championships will be historic. For the first time since 1989, the NCAA will crown separate men’s and women’s team champions. That means the 2026 championships will feature the first standalone women’s team title in the three-weapon era — a milestone for gender equity in the sport and a direct result of a years-long NCAA review process.
College Fencing Is Growing
The excitement at nationals is just one sign of the sport’s momentum. Behind the scenes, USA Fencing has been working with colleges and universities to add new fencing programs at a time when some schools are cutting sports.
In recent months, three schools have announced plans to expand or launch programs. Fairleigh Dickinson University will add men’s fencing beginning in 2027-28, becoming the first school to add men’s fencing since the House v. NCAA decision. Arcadia University, located near Philadelphia, will launch both men’s and women’s programs starting in Fall 2027. And Denison University — already home to the nation’s top-ranked Division III women’s fencing program — will add a men’s team for the 2026-27 season.
More announcements are on the way.
“Every new program creates pathways for young fencers to compete at the collegiate level,” said USA Fencing CEO Phil Andrews. “What we’re seeing right now is incredible. At a time when some corners of college athletics are contracting, fencing is expanding. But fencing’s college story didn’t start this year. It goes back decades, and we want to celebrate the people who helped write it.”
Calling All College Fencing Alumni
Wherever you fenced in college, your experience matters.
USA Fencing is launching a college fencing alumni database to connect the thousands of people who have competed at the collegiate level over the years.
We want to know: Where did you fence? When did you compete? What weapon? And where are you now?
Your information will help us build a network that celebrates the history of college fencing and strengthens the pipeline between the NCAA and USA Fencing. It will also help us connect alumni with each other and with current student-athletes who are building the next chapter of the sport.
Submit your information using the college fencing alumni form linked here.
Fill out the College Alumni Form
First USA Fencing College Alumni Event
Mark your calendar: USA Fencing will host its first-ever college fencing alumni event at 6 p.m. on May 27, 2026, in Midtown Manhattan (New York City). Details on venue, format and registration will be announced soon.
Whether you graduated last spring or fenced in the 1970s, this event is for you.
College fencing’s best days are still ahead. But as the sport grows, there’s never been a better time to look back, reconnect and celebrate the community that made it all possible.
