The Black Student Alliance is a student organization at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Its mission is "to define clearly and insure the rights and responsibilities of Black students, individually and collectively" and "to promote a continuous exchange of ideas and opinions between students and administration." The Black Student Alliance formed in 1969 under the name of the Student Human Relations Council in response to the merger of Chattanooga City College, the University of Chattanooga, and the University of Tennessee System to create the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. This academic reorganization significantly altered the demographic of the student body, and the Student Human Relations Council was chartered as a collective group for black students. To clarify this purpose, the group changed names again in 1970 to the Black Student Association, and sponsored campus events that were both entertaining and educational. The largest of these was an annual Black Awareness Week, a full week of programming celebrating black culture. Black Awareness Week was sponsored by the Black Student Association from 1970 to 1986. In 1986, this programming shifted and expanded to align with Black History Month in February. At this point, the Dean of Students began to play a more active role in planning these events by forming a Black History Month Planning Committee each year to coordinate efforts with the Black Student Association in the celebration of Black History Month at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. In 2003, after a period of dormancy, the Black Student Association changed its name to the Black Student Alliance and updated its constitution. While the organizational structure changed, the group's mission remains the same-to serve as a liaison between the university and African-American students, and to encourage different groups to connect in idea and activity. These activities focus on maintaining African-American identity and cohesion at the university.