The Student Association at Binghamton University began in December 1946 when Binghamton University was still Triple Cities College in Endicott, NY. Administrators approached the student body and asked them to cultivate a vibrant, co-curricular life for the campus. With a budget of $750, we established the first student government in the history of the college.

Even though they functioned under the watchful eye of the Student Activities Committee, these early campus leaders were not inhibited. In the late 1940s, they fought against a 25% tuition increase, recommended an honor system for exams, and pushed for a student judicial board to handle infractions of the rules. While not all of their goals were accomplished, these actions caused the presence of the student government to be felt across campus.

Triple Cities College grew into Harpur College and was integrated into the State University of New York system in 1950. Ten years later, the campus moved from Endicott to Vestal, where it still sits today. This change fueled our activism even further.

With the established name “United Student Government,” we grew into a vehicle of social action and cultural change, debating the fiery issues of the time: free speech, civil rights, the Vietnam War, and social justice. Unlike the administration, the United Student Government emerged as an indicator of a new generation’s ideological temperature.

It was in the revolutionary climate of 1970 that SUNY Binghamton attempted a new form of “joint governance.” We brought together students, faculty, and staff in a single body to govern the University. While at first very successful, this brave experiment ultimately failed. Thus, in 1973, the Student Association at Binghamton University was born.

Since 1973, the Student Association (SA) has grown into not only a forum for student activism, but the primary system in which hundreds of clubs and student organizations receive their funding and legal protection. Despite our office residing within the University Union, we are proudly an independent organization from the university, incorporated as a non-profit legal entity. With its variety of businesses and services, the Student Association at Binghamton University offers students unique opportunities in leadership and project management, as well as a voice amidst the affairs of campus life.