History of the SSREC

In the Spring of 2003, the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and Duke University were the first Southeast universities to successfully implement student driven initiatives focused on renewable energy support at the campus level. Typical of great leaders, the North Carolina students then decided to create a forum to share what they had learned with neighboring schools in the Southeast. The concept of the Southeast Student Renewable Energy Conference (SSREC) was born.

Student organizers from University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Duke University, and North Carolina State University began planning for the conference in the Fall of 2003, adding Southern Alliance for Clean Energy to the planning committee in December of 2003. On April 2nd, 2004, over 200 students from around the Southeast descended upon Durham and Raleigh, North Carolina, for a weekend full of learning, networking and laughs.

The atmosphere of the first conference was charged with excitement and anticipation realizing the possibilities of transforming Southeast universities into sustainable living communities. Following the conference, many student activists continued to work on energy issues.

In August 2004, the Southern Energy Network was formed to serve as both a catalyst and guiding agent as institutions of high learning from the shores of Florida, to the hills of Appalachia, to the banks of the Mississippi River drive their communities towards a clean energy future.

Since the first SSREC, the conference has continued to grow, evolve, and most importantly empower. It has since been hosted by the University of Tennessee, Clemson University, Valdosta State University, and the University of Georgia.