Minority students made up a quarter of the student body by 1993. Students of color were a growing proportion of the student body, with Asian American and Asian international students making up the largest share among them. However, neither Emory’s curriculum nor their administrative policies reflected the needs and wants of its significant Asian student population. 

As a result, the various Asian cultural clubs at Emory, with the support of OMPS, founded the Students in Alliance for Asian American Concerns (SAAAC). SAAAC was inspired by the 1960s-70s Third World Liberation Front (TWLF), which campaigned for greater diversity in admissions and the establishment of new ethnic studies programs.

SAAAC’s 1997 mission statement introduced the group as “a union of Emory University students for the purpose of developing unity within the Asian American community . . . to promote the ideals of multiculturalism.” As a group focused on pan-ethnic Asian American identity, its partner organizations included the Association of Taiwanese American College and University Students, Emory Chinese Student Association, Emory Japan Society, Emory Vietnamese Association, Indian Cultural Exchange, and Korean American Student Association.

Under the leadership of Stephen Chen ’95, SAAAC advocated for a new major in “Asian and Asian-American Studies” in Emory College and dedicated resources for Asian American students. Although SAAAC did not succeed in meeting these two goals, it made some significant inroads in getting Emory to pay attention to Asian American Studies and Asian American students. In 1994, it succeeded in hosting Ronald Takaki at UC Berkeley to speak at Emory for its Unity Week. In 1996, many of its members joined forces with the Black Student Alliance (BSA) to stage a joint Dobbs Center university protest. In 1998, SAAC hosted the Atlantic Coast Asian American Students Union conference at Emory University.

SAAAC’s papers are available in the Office of Multicultural Programs and Services records at the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library.