SDS is an educational association concerned with building a responsible and articulate left in the universities and to extending the influence of this community into the political life of the society more generally. The last year has been one of rebuilding, and the organization now is at that point where a lot of loose threads are being brought together, personal associations are being transformed into organizational responsibilities and program is being put on a firm base both of intellectual content and competent people to carry it forward. The synthesis continually in our mind is that which unites vision and relevance.
—Al Haber, mimeographed letter to SDS and friends, December 4, 1961