Introduction

Secular Students are more involved than ever! Not only did the school year bring a record number of affiliates, we'll be expanding our high school efforts and discussing our role in interfaith.

Fall Brings Record Numbers of Atheist, Agnostic Student Organizations on Campus

September 9 Release: Indicative of a larger pattern, atheist and agnostic students will return to campus this fall with a better chance than ever of finding groups of like-minded young people. The Secular Student Alliance (SSA), a national organization devoted to supporting nonreligious student groups, reported having a record 219 campus affiliate groups, up from 159 in 2009 and 100 in 2008.

"The secular student movement is growing faster than we ever expected," said SSA Executive Director August Brunsman. "It's a challenge to keep up with the demand for services. That's a nice problem to have."

NU SHIFT President on Her Experience at SSA Annual Conference

It's been a month since the Secular Student Alliance's annual conference, yet I still find myself at a complete loss for words to describe this unparalleled event. When I first came upon the perspective of atheism over four years ago �” and even by the time I'd helped found my university's own secular student group nearly one year ago �” I never could have imagined the entire world that I was about to unearth from out of the secular humanist movement. Attending the SSA conference this year finally helped me realize this world for all of its spirit, determination, and power.

Prominent Atheists Flock to Support College Students' Creative Food Drive

September 27th Release:Prominent atheist and skeptic leaders from around the country are supporting a local student group's combination of food drive and free speech campaign. The Metro State Atheists at Metro State College of Denver announced a "Food for Freethought" project starting September 28th in which food donations are exchanged for a "banned" or freethought book. When told about the event, secular leaders including best-selling atheist authors Daniel Dennett and Richard Dawkins sent signed copies of their books for the students to give away in order to inspire more giving. All charitable contributions will go to Food Bank of the Rockies.

Atheists, Interfaith, and the White House

In 2002 the SSA had its annual conference in Chicago. We tried to rent space from DePaul University. They were fine with us at first, but then got cold feet when they decided that the Catholic mission of DePaul was inconsistent with renting space to atheists. Back in 2002, I never would have anticipated the very warm reception I got as an atheist at DePaul this summer.

Atheist Teens Empowered by New Foundation's $50,000 Gift

September 20th Release: Atheist teenagers around the country are likely to find something new this school year �“ an active group of like-minded peers. The Stiefel Freethought Foundation marked its official launch today by announcing a $50,000 grant to help organize and support high school groups for nonreligious teenagers. The program, to be run by the Secular Student Alliance, will offer both resources and hands-on assistance to teenagers promoting positive secular values in their lives and on their campuses.

Secular Students in Interfaith Councils: Pro - Promoting Interfaith: With Great Involvement Come Great Benefits for All Secular Students

I am not anti-religious, and thus it is not my goal to eradicate religion. I raise this point at the outset because the stance a secular student has towards religion directly influences the difficulty of convincing he or she of the importance of involvement with interfaith groups and panels. For those who are not anti-religious, I think it is easy to convince secular students of the importance of involvement with interfaith groups and panels, if they are not already so convinced.

Secular Students in Interfaith Councils: Con - Will the Real Interfaith Movement Please Stand Up?

Recent years have seen a disturbing tread on the American religious landscape in the form of ever-larger groups promoting division, distrust, and acrimony. These groups are known as interfaith organizations. Larger exemplars of this group, such as the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), enjoy slick marketing and proliferate under a veneer of hyper-PC rhetoric: "Interfaith Youth Core builds mutual respect and pluralism among young people from different religious traditions by empowering them to work together to serve others."

Featured Speaker:Ted Cox

In early 2010, I was serving as the President of the Agnostic & Atheist Student Association at the University of California-Davis when word arrived about local atheist writer Ted Cox. Cox had gone undercover to investigate the gay-to-straight religious conversion therapy and was interested in speaking to student groups about the experience. We contacted him and arranged an event titled, "What I Learned at Straight Camp" which filled the second largest lecture hall on our campus and attracted regional media attention.