Southern Oregon University (SOU) is a public liberal arts college located in Ashland, OR. Founded in 1926, it was formerly known as Southern Oregon College and Southern Oregon State College. SOU's athletic teams, known as the Raiders, have the Red-tailed Hawk as their mascot. The Raiders are members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Cascade Collegiate Conference. The Southern Oregon football team competes in the Frontier Conference and won the NAIA Championship in 2014. The Southern Oregon wrestling team competes as an independent in the NAIA West Regional and has won the National Wrestling Championship four times: 1978, 1983, 1994, and 2001. Southern Oregon University Athletics