Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association
| Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association | |
|---|---|
| President | Kevin McClintock |
| Founded | 1979, 2007 |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C., San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| Website | |
| www.statehoodpr.org | |
The Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association (PRSSA) —Spanish: Asociación de Estudiantes Estadistas de Puerto Rico— is a Puerto Rican non-profit student organization dedicated to promoting statehood for Puerto Rico. Founded in 1979, the organization has grown to more than 5,000 members and 70 chapters at colleges and universities in over 20 states of the United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Its headquarters are located in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
PRSSA promotes the participation of pro-statehood students in the political process, serves as a pro-statehood student think tank, leads a grassroots approach to lobby the United States Congress, and provides professional development to its members through informational and internship programs.
PRSSA was founded in August 1979 by then-law student , Puerto Rico's future Secretary of State, and then-college student Luis Fortuño, Puerto Rico's future Governor.
The organization was constituted to promote the discussion of Puerto Rico's political status dilemma in mainland United States colleges and universities, promote statehood for America's largest territory and facilitate absentee balloting in the islands' elections for the estimated 15,000 young voting residents of Puerto Rico registered in college campuses throughout the states and Washington, DC.
McClintock served as the association's first president from August 1979 to June 1980, when he graduated from the Tulane University Law School. McClintock was responsible for establishing the PRSSA throughout stateside colleges and universities during his tenure. PRSSA grew to over 500 members and 35 chapters throughout the United States. McClintock also organized the first PRSSA Convention in the now defunct Cerromar Hotel in Vega Alta, Puerto Rico. The three-day convention featured then-congressman and future Senator Paul Simon as keynote speaker, as well as then-Governor Carlos Romero Barceló, statehood patriarch and former Governor Luis A. Ferré and McClintock's predecessor as Secretary of State, Pedro Vázquez, as speakers.
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