The Founding of the SAAC, 1968

Due to limited archival records, it is difficult to ascertain the exact reasons why the SAAC was founded. However, it is clear that in May 1968, sixty-three NC State students chartered the SAAC. The original member list for the SAAC demonstrates the diverse age-range of the students. In particular, younger students, or students just beginning their college career at NC State, joined the SAAC in greater numbers than upperclass men and women. Of the sixty-three founding students, two identified as graduate students, three as seniors, seven as juniors, nineteen as sophomores, and twenty-seven as freshmen. Five of the members are not identified by grade, including George Williams, who is listed as “(So – Fr – Jr – So).” As black students' presence on the campus grew, it is likely that there were simply more freshmen and sophomores to join the organization.

The founding constitution of the SAAC reveals an organization that was not only dedicated to furthering black student causes at NC State, but combating what they perceived as racial biases inherent in the university structure. Unlike off-campus student groups that were not sanctioned by the university, from the outset the SAAC sought to work “within the University framework to spawn the idea of black identity, seek black representation in official University functions, provide an instrument for black entrance into the legislative, judicial executive system at North Carolina State University, and to promote the growth of nationally affiliated social fraternities and sororities on the North Carolina State University campus.” These initial goals primarily manifested themselves through campus demonstrations and student outreach activities that echoed the SAAC's official declaration of itself as the "Political and Cultural Organization of Black Students at NC State University."

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