Evans' leadership role in SDS began after a conference held on July 15, 1969 at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. At this she announced that she would be traveling with six other anti-war activists to Hanoi to participate in the release of three U.S pilots who were being held as prisoners of war. At this conference, she also read a statement from SDS which declared the organization's support for the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam. Almost a month later, on August 7, 1969, Evans returned from Hanoi along with the prisoners of war through Trans World Airlines.