The organisation was founded after successfully designing the movement at Bogor from 21 until 24 December 2007, and it initially consisted of more than 30 member students' unions. On 23 March 2008, its representatives met in
Lampung and resulted in the creation of ('People's Monument'), which consists of 7 demands, although its contents have been substantially changed since then (but the number remains). On 2 March 2012, the students' union of
Gadjah Mada University withdrew from the alliance following 5th national conference at
Lampung University. During the national conference at
Andalas University,
Padang in April 2021, committee decided to limit the participants into 150 members, in order to uphold the health protocols. As a result, 132 of 168 member students' unions decided to walked out and declared
motion of no confidence, viewed that the decision was made unilaterally by committees. The remaining 36 members named themselves ('Popular Uprising'), while the majority named themselves ('Peopleness'). Five months later, the faction attended a national work meeting at
Muhammadiyah University of Yogyakarta. This factionalism within BEM SI has led to divergence in political views. According to the coordinator of faction, Wahyu Suryana, his faction prioritised discussion, scientific analysis, and study. Several days after
2022 Indonesian student protests, BEM SI rejected the formation of
Indonesian Students Party, as they believed students' movements are inherently extra-parliamentary, hence, diminishing the need to establish a political party for students. According to coordinator Kaharuddin, students' movements must be independent from political interests. Following the conference of faction on 19 July 2025, students' unions from 10 universities withdrew from their membership. Wiyu Ghaniy Allatif Yudistira, the president of students' union, quoted "the presence of officials and personal interests over discussion of the students' movement". == Involvements in protests ==