United States National Student Association

The United States National Student Association (NSA) was an organization of student government associations on college and university campuses that was formed at a conference in Madison, Wisconsin.The NSA protested the Rivonia trial in South Africa and opposed bank loans to South Africa. The NSA was one of the national organizations that met in January, 1964 and formed the Consultative Council on South Africa to develop strategies and coordinate efforts. In March, 1965, the NSA organized its chapters to hold a March emphasis week focused on the fifth anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre. The University of Michigan NSA chapter held a conference on South Africa that month, and the NSA chapter at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) cooperated in educational activities with the South African Freedom Action Committee. In March, 1967, an investigative article in Ramparts magazine revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)  funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to the NSA, primarily for NSA’s involvement in the International Student Conference (ISC) and for gathering information on student leaders from other countries who participated in the ISC.