Faced with pressure from the ADTA and the real possibility that SADA might succeed in securing independent sources of funding, the ADA began developing its own plans for an office of student affairs (OSA). OSA was approved by the ADA House of Delegates in Oct. 1970 and was charged with organizing a dental student national convention to be held in Chicago on Feb. 8–9, 1971. The purpose of the convention was to bring student leaders together from all over the country, and to formalize the structure and the necessary support for student input into the American Dental Association. Dental school deans were asked to hold campus-wide elections for delegates. The ADA paid for the travel and lodging expenses for all the delegates. A significant number of the attendees were participants from the SADA convention the previous year, including all of SADA’s core group: Spain from UCSF, Martin from Marquette, Tenenbaum from Pitt, Smith from Illinois, and Loman as the delegate from Iowa. Their presence insured that there would be some continuity, at least in spirit, between SADA and this new iteration sponsored by the ADA.