The conference was founded in 1975 as the Virginia College Conference. On January 1, 1976, the name was changed to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. The 1976–77 season was the first in which championships were offered. In 1982–83, women's sports were added. In 1988, Virginia Wesleyan was added as a member, and, in 1990, Guilford became the first member located outside Virginia. Catholic University was a full-sport member in the 1980s along with Maryville College. Both resigned their memberships in the mid-to-late 1980s. In 1999, Catholic returned as a football-only member. The only other school that has left the conference is Mary Baldwin College, which left in 1999 to join the Atlantic Women's Colleges Conference.