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This Week

Weekly news, emails, and group-running articles for student leaders. Check in every week for new postings!

Subscribe to receive "This Week" emails in your inbox here.  Leaders and members of affiliate groups, off-campus supporters, and other are welcome!

This Week: Affiliation Renewals, Interfaith Leadership, Ask-an-Atheist Day

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Spring 2012 Affiliation Renewals

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The Spring 2012 Affiliation Renewal is happening right now!  All leaders and advisors should have gotten an email about this required webform.  We do need each and every SSA affiliate group to renew, so check with your other leaders (to make sure you're not duplicating efforts) and lend us 15 minutes to get your affiliation renewed.  Learn more, check outstanding groups, peruse the FAQ, complete the renewal form and more at www.secularstudents.org/renewal.

Upcoming IFYC Interfaith Leadership Institutes

IFYC ILI

You can learn to be a catalyst for social change by attending an Interfaith Leadership Institute (ILI)!
 
ILIs are four-day intensive workshops hosted by the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) that equip students and their campus allies to be movement builders for interfaith action. Join hundreds of organizers who are changing campuses through the Better Together campaign by bringing together people of all religious and non-religious traditions to change the world.
 
Bring together a campus team and apply now to join us for a summer ILI:

DePaul University, Chicago, IL - June 18th to 21st
or
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA - July 16th  to 19th

Application deadline:  April 1

Join us for powerful training, relationship building, and inspiration. Become an interfaith leader who can:

  • Mobilize large numbers of students to voice their values, engage with others, and act together;
  • Change campus by raising the volume on interfaith cooperation; and
  • Grow as a leader, building skills for life on campus and beyond.

Make your campus better together: Apply today!
 
Make sure you check out the Summer 2012 ILIs on Facebook.
Questions? http://bit.ly/zsBnXCbit.ly/zsBnXC.
Or, send an email to [email protected].

Ask-an-Atheist Day 2012

Ask-an-Atheist

National Ask-an-Atheist Day 2012 is April 19th!  You still have time to order stickers, print up signs, and get a table ready to rock your campus along with hundreds of other secular students across the country.  Head over to our Ask an Atheist Day page to learn more, request materials, and make your event awesome!
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May 3 is the National Day of Reason - the secular movement's response to the National Day of Prayer.  It's a great opportunity to host a service project, protest government prayers, or hold an educational event on your campus.  Check out our NDOR activity packet and start planning those events!
Australian author and blogger Edward Falzon is promoting his new (satirically titled) book, Women should Shut Up and Listen. He will be invading the U.S. in June to for a book tour you all can have a part in. Contact Nick if your group is interested in having him stop by your school to talk during his book tour. Check here to see when he will be in you area.
There's still a few weeks to hold a fundraiser for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Light the Night Walk!  Check out our Light the Night resources and help us meet our 100 teams challenge!
The Freedom From Religion Foundation's annual Essay Contest is underway.  Win up to $3,000 for your essay - get details here!

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This Week: LTN Kickoff Challenge, Reason Rally and Affiliation Renewal!

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This Week: LTN Kickoff, Reason Rally and Affiliation Renewal!


You know that awkward time when someone tells you, "I've got some good news and I've got some bad news"?  Well, this is that time.

First, the good news!  We want your club to have a pizza party on us.  Only catch is you have to make the world a better place first.  The things we demand, right?

Also, THE BIGGEST ATHEIST EVENT IN THE HISTORY OF EVER IS UPON US!!!!ONE!!SOEXCITE!  You can bet the SSA will be there with bells on and with oodles and oodles of schwag to give away.

Now, the bad news.  Remember when you guys applied to be affiliates and we promised all kinds of free stuff like banners, tabling supplies, and other loot?  Remember when, in exchange for this boon you agreed to take fifteen minutes out of each semester, fifteen minutes you will never get back, to fill out an affiliation renewal?  Well, it's almost time to make good on your end.  We will be launching the affiliation renewal in ONE WEEK!  When it comes out, fill it out.  The sooner the better.  If you don't, instead of getting paid to empower groups, Andy, Nick, and I will get to spend our working hours tracking you down.  Don't make us do that.  Don't make us beg.

Now that the unpleasantness is over, I can't wait to see a lot of you in DC next week! 

Until then...

JT

Light the Night Kickoff Challenge

We've noticed that there appears to be a disappointing lack of interest forLLSLight the Night charity fundraising so far. A whooping two student groups have registered so far. We know we can do better than that. To spur a little interest for you guys we set up a little challenge!

The Kickoff Challenge starts today. Register your team and raise more money before April 15 (tax day) than the SSA national team!  The team that raises the most will get a pizza party for their group on us! Let us work together that we may back hand blood cancer!

If you live in North Carolina you have more opportunities to raise money. You can sell candy or even eat pizza (at California pizza) and some of the profits will go to your group! Finally for all teams, if you raise $100 or more, you will receive a free movie ticket! Your team gets a ticket for every hundred bucks!

Please watch this promotional video by Todd Stiefel.

Go here to see the list of registered teams thus far.

Reason Rally 5 Days Away

In 5 days, the world will witness the single greatest gathering of atheists, RRsecularists, humanists, agnostics and other non-theists of all time. We look forward to seeing you all there! In your final preparations for this most glorious day please be safe. There will be a lot of people there and things are sure to get a little hectic. Be aware that the rally is meant to unify, energize, and embolden the secular demographic AND to change the negative perspectives of our demographic. Finally, have tons of fun! Let's show the world what we're made of!

Affiliation Renewal Time

It's that time of year again! It's time for you to help us update your group information in order to remain an affiliate! This is just a heads up, the calm before the storm, but we will need affiliation renewals from EVERYONE. No exceptions are allowed. Go to our affiliation renewal page to familiarize yourself with all the specifics of the process but don't yet fill out a form! We are still working out the kinks of the doodads. Affiliation renewal officially starts next week so stay tuned. The form for the renewal will be tested and activated by then.
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Notice: The SSA team is going to be at the Reason Rally March 24th and all will not be immediately back afterwards. Therefore next week the office will be very short staffed. Please be patient with us during this time as staff may not immediately respond to emails.
Notice: The Internship applications are due 3/20/12. That's tomorrow! You have until then for a chance at greatness with the SSA this summer!
Ask an Atheist Day is a month away and we still have a bunch of stickers! Fill out those sticker requests so that your group is properly armed April 19th!

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Group Photo of the Week
High School
Members from SSA at Osceola Fundamental High School, led by Cyrus Tahmourpour. The first High School group to send us a GPotW picture!

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This Week
Submitted by samueljackson on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 15:49

This Week: Our New Office, Fighting Creationism and Secular Jobs!

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This Week: Our New Office, Fighting Creationism and Secular Jobs!

Hello All!

So we packed everything up and moved a ton of boxes last week. Then we decided that since we're looking at new walls, we'd give you all a new view with a brand-new This Week template! 

We have a short message today, but there's a lot here for you and your group to do. - including (over in that right-hand sidebar) a few reminders of opportunities and upcoming events. There are also several secular jobs available if you're feeling ambitious.

If you need anything like tabling supplies, speaker planning, event advice, or Mass Effect 3 discussion, please feel free to contact me!

With Freethought,
Nick
 

Our New Office

New OfficeWe are so excited to have moved to our new office! Our new address is:

1550 Old Henderson Rd.
Suite S150
Columbus OH 43220

Mail sent to our old address will be forwarded to our new location. Or, you can always mail things to our PO box address: PO Box 2371, Columbus, OH 43216.
 
If you're coming through Columbus and would like to visit our offices, please let us know!  We're happy to meet you and have coffee or lunch.

Help Fight Creationism in Louisiana

Zack Kopplin led the charge against Louisiana's anti-science law (the Louisiana Science Education Act) and its anti-evolution policies. Zack created a facebook page called Online Day of Action to Repeal Louisiana's Creationism Law in an effort to mobilize public support and put pressure on the lawmakers who introduced the law. The law allows school boards within the state to approve of classroom material critical of evolution and global warming, among other things, under the guise of fostering critical thinking.

Louisiana lawmakers are now working to challenge this law, and you can help!  You can help improve schools in Louisiana by liking the Facebook page or following the Twitter equivalent. Sign the petition and if you live in Louisiana, meet or call your state legislature urging them to support Senator Karen Peterson's SB 374. Finally, you can keep up to date with all the shenanigans with their website.

Open Jobs in the Secular Movement

Two new director positions in the secular movement!  One position is at the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) and the other is for the Evolution Institute. The Evolution Institute has just recently received 501(c)(3) status and is looking for an executive director to accelerate their growth. The Interfaith Youth Core is looking for a Director of Campaign Operations - a senior hire to direct the entire field operation of the Better Together campaign. The application for IFYC is due March 31st. More information can be found here. The application for Evolution Institute is due May 1st. More information can be found here.
 
Don't forget that there are several other open positions in the secular movement, and you can check them all out at our jobs page.  In particular, now's the time to apply for our full-time Regional Campus Organizer position and our two paid summer internships: applications for all positions are due March 20!
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Registration is now live, and we're accepting applications for Leadership Travel Aid funding!  Learn more at the conference website!

There is a short film competition for the Atheist Film Festival in SanFran. Send in your thought provoking films. Check here for the details. Grand prize gets $250. There is an entry fee of $25 and submission deadline is June 30th.

Australian author and blogger Edward Falzon is promoting his new book, Women should Shut Up and Listen. He will be invading the U.S. in June to for a book tour you all can have a part in. Contact Nick if your group is interested in having him stop by your school to talk during his book tour. Check here to see when he will be in you area.

Group Photo of the Week

  Members from the Secular Student Alliance at Mesa Community College get de-baptized.

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This Week
Submitted by samueljackson on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 22:14

This Week: More Events!

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This Week: More Events!
In This Message

Rock Beyond Belief

Light the Night

SSA 2012 Conference

Notice: SSA is no longer providing Reason Rally grants for affiliate groups. We're sorry for any inconvenience.

Are you graduating soon and in need of replacement leaders? Check out Andy Cheadle's article where he gives ideas on how groups should go about electing their leaders.

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Group Photo of the Week
 WesboroBruin Alliance of Skeptics and Secularists counter protests the Westboro Baptist Church's protest of the oscars.

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Facebook!  Twitter! YouTube!

Become a Member of the SSA

Contact Us.
We're here to help your group.

 

Hola a todos!

There are more ways to meet up with your fellow kin then Reason Rally this year. As you can see below, there is also Rock Beyond Belief and our very own annual conference where you can meet other SSA affiliate leaders across the nation. I'm excited about this year because I have yet to attend any large secular gathering and will be very happy to see how much fun these events will be. I hope all of you take advantage of these opportunities to network with other non-theists. You never know exactly what will happen!

Regards!
 
Sam
 
 

Rock Beyond Belief

Rock Beyond Belief is in response to Rock the Fort, which was a dogpartnering of Fort Bragg in North Carolina (or rather their religious support office) and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in 2010. RBB will be throwing an exciting rock concert for all non-theists and to show their support for atheist soldiers. The event starts March 31st in Fort Bragg North Carolina, a little after Reason Rally. The Stiefel Freethought Foundation and American Atheists helped sponsor this event. Check out their speaker line up here.

Light the Night

Remember that The Foundation Beyond Belief and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society have joined forces, along with other national secular organizations including SSA in an effort to raise research funds to fight blood cancer. Light the Night is their initiative to help raise these founds and we're asking for your help! Our goal is to organize 100 teams to raise 1,000,000. The Stiefel family has put in a matching $500,000 challenge, so it is up to us to raise the other half.

Check out the Light The Night Activity Packet to see the step by step details of this awesome program.  You'll find more information about The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the Light The Night Walk, the teambuilding and fundraising processes, special incentives for our teams, free resources for your group, and much more. 

You can start building your team and get registered following the instructions here. Or you can contact Lyz, or contact our representative at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Breanna Baer.

SSA 2012 Conference

Look out for SSA's 2012 Conference. The 2011 posterconference was a huge success and this year's will be bigger and better! The event will be at Ohio State University in Columbus, OH and will be two days long. The conference is from July 6-8th, which may seem a ways away, but it will be here before you know it. You can check out our list of awesome speakers here! Also make sure you register for the conference so we know who to expect there! Need a little cash to get to Columbus? We are providing Leadership Travel Aid to members of our affiliates. Fill out the form here and we will be in contact with you.

 

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This Week
Submitted by samueljackson on Mon, 03/05/2012 - 16:38

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