The Secular Student Alliance (SSA) allocates the majority of its resources into the support of its affiliate groups. We only support groups that further our mission. We have developed the following standards to help campus groups determine if they should seek affiliation with us.

Note that these standards apply only to groups that we officially affiliate with in order to support. Individuals of any worldview are welcome to join the SSA if they wish to support our mission.

Additionally, we are open to cooperation on an ad-hoc basis with other organizations - regardless of their worldview - on specific issues of common concern.

We welcome as affiliates campus groups that share our values of naturalism, reason and compassion in the service of making the world a better place for all humanity. Our philosophical worldview is informed by the methods of science, recognizes the evolution of our knowledge and is free from dogma and open to revision as new evidence and more compelling reasons are presented.

Specifically, we are interested in affiliating with groups that are:

Naturalistic - we hold that natural things are the only things about which humans can coherently communicate or think.  Most of us believe that all things that exist are natural things. We also believe that critical inquiry, combined with empirical investigation where possible, leads to a more accurate understanding of the world in which we live than revelation, faith, or authority.

Economically Neutral- we share many common concerns with organizations that advocate specific economic principles, including Libertarians, Objectivists, Greens, and others. However, we cannot affiliate with groups that pursue an active economic agenda, be it on the left or right. We do acknowledge that the study of economics and sound economic policy is vital to the betterment of humanity. However, we have no interest in endorsing one economic view over others. We strive to see naturalism, reason and compassion take center stage in economic discussions and encourage our affiliates to promote discussion of economic issues.

Civil Rights Minded - we cannot support groups that promote denial of liberties in areas such as reproduction, religion, speech, or equality under the law.

Non-discriminatory - We cannot affiliate with groups that bar members from joining on the basis of their creed or worldview. We also cannot affiliate with groups that discriminate on the basis of race, color, sexual orientation, national origin, sex, age, handicap, or veteran status.