Student Affirmative Action Committee

In solidarity with the struggles of the Lumumba-Zapata Coalition, the Student Affirmative Action Committee (SAAC) was formed in 1975 as a coalition advocating for social justice on campus and within our communities and to create a safe space for all underrepresented, underserved and underprivileged students on campus. Currently, there are eight SAAC orgs that advocate for the goals of SAAC, which are Black Student Union (BSU), Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlan (MECHA), Asian Pacific Islander Student Alliance (APSA), Kaibigang Pilipin@ (KP), Native American Student Alliance (NASA), Students with Disabilities Coalition (SDC), Queer People of Color (QPOC), and Muslim Student Association (MSA). They unwaveringly uphold the principles of educational equity and oppose institutional oppression. As a coalition, SAAC works to empower groups, which have been historically marginalized. They work to establish that fulfilling the mission of the University of California will only be achieved through increased access, collective empowerment, and self-determination of all disenfranchised communities. SAAC is a unique entity, they are not a student organization and they have no administrative oversight. SAAC fights to keep safe spaces open and to empower all who are marginalized.

40 years after the Lumumba-Zapata movement, students still continue to strive to make access, affordability and diversity a priority. We look at the history of UCSD activism as motivation to push towards our goals of equal access to higher education for all students. Change occurs when our voices are heard. Building solidarity across institutional barriers leads to even greater access and retention for underrepresented students who want a relevant education that represents the struggles of underrepresented communities. This history of activism fosters an environment where students have fought for equal access, recruitment and retention for underrepresented students, staff and faculty, to taking an entire student movement along the Interstate 5 to advocate for worker’s rights, and until now as we continue to fight for an accessible and affordable education for all students.
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The SAAC organizations have GBMs at the following times:

SAAC — Wednesdays from 3 – 5 PM in the CCC Art Space
BSU — Mondays from 6:30 – 8:00 PM in the CCC Comunidad Large
MEChA — Mondays from 5 – 6:30 PM in the CCC Comunidad Large
MSA — Thursdays from 6- 9 PM in the CCC Comunidad Large
APSA — Tuesdays from 6:30 – 8 PM in the CCC Comunidad Large
SDC — Mondays from 5 – 7 PM in the LGBT RC Heritage Room
NASA — Wednesdays from 4 – 6 PM in the CCC Conference Room
QPOC — Thursdays from 7 – 9 PM in the LGBT RC Family Room