Oakland University Center for Student Activities collection

At Oakland University, the first student activities were coordinated by the Director of the Student Center. In 1964 a Student Finance Committee, later renamed Student Activities Coordinating Committee (SACC), was appointed by the Chancellor Varner and mentored by the Director of Student Activities (then Jim Petty) to distribute the revenue of the student activities fee. In 1967, politically-minded and activist students pushed for a stronger student role, in the form of a student activities board and an allocations committee.

By the early 1970s, the period of student activism was over. In 1976, the offices of Commuter Services and the Department of Student Organizations and Campus Programs merged into the Department for Campus Information, Programs, and Organizations (CIPO). Its Director felt that there was an increasing number of student organizations that had no clearly defined goals. CIPO initiated leadership training for student organizations and in 1979, awards for those organizations that made major contributions.

In 1997 CIPO changed its name to Center for Student Activities and Leadership.