University of Virginia Library

SDS And SSOC

On the left, there are the
University chapters of Students For
a Democratic Society (SDS) and
the Southern Student Organizing
Committee (SSOC), two organizations
of whom most new students
have probably heard. Last year,
their members returned to school
early and began a flood campaign
of words and leaflets.

Although they were laughed at
in September, these groups initiated
several issues that later acquired
wide popularity. The black studies
and Transition Fund campaign
achieved great success through
demonstrations and fund raising.

Two other groups which have

been associated with some of the
campaigns of SDS and SSOC are
the Martin Luther King Jr., Chapter
of the Virginia Council on Human
Relations, headed by Dick Boot,
and the Black Students for Freedom,
whose leader is George
Taylor. These groups, plus the
Wesley Foundation's Virginia Interfaith
Action Community, took an
active part in the Transition Fund
and the controversy over the-housing
and wages in Charlottesville
of University employees.