Darwin Day is coming! It’s not too early to start planning how you are going to celebrate! This year’s Darwin Day Celebration is special, indeed, as it marks both the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin as well as the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Origin Of Species. If you are ever going to celebrate Darwin Day, this coming year will be the time to do it.

You’ve read about PZ Myers and the “Wafergate” scandal. The Secular Student Alliance has not taken an official position, but encourages students to discuss free speech issues and the best ways to promote secularism. To that end, SSA board member Chris Calvey says, “No reasonable person can seriously entertain the Catholic League’s accusations that PZ Myers’ “Great Desecration” constitutes a hate crime. The interesting debate is not about his first amendment right to do so, but rather about whether PZ should have done it at all.”

Once you get Chris Calvey’s take on the PZ Myers “Wafergate” events, check out what board member Joe Foley has to say. “There's a fine line between the playful satire that slyly defuses our undeservingly serious institutions and the masturbatory condescension that alienates those whose respect we need most. PZ Myers has crossed the line.”

Who would have thought that a lawsuit brought by Summum, a fringe religious group founded by an ex-Mormon who claimed to have had contact with extraterrestrials, could be an opportunity for the secular community? The Supreme Court case of Pleasant Grove City v. Summum is one of those anomalous cases which, despite involving no secular advocacy organization directly, could have significant repercussions for the secular movement. By Brendan Dieffenbach.

As I returned home this summer from my internship with the Secular Student Alliance, I was able to reflect upon and understand the rareness of my experience. Though I was asked many times upon my return, the answer is no, I was not one of those coffee-fetching interns. Instead, I was given striking responsibility over the projects I was assigned and even given the chance to suggest others. By Ashley Carter, SSA intern.

Our fellow SSA member Harvard University Evolutionary Biologist Sebastian Velez leads a humanist organization serving a community of Haitian-descent sharecroppers along the Dominican Republic-Haiti border. There are lots of opportunities to get involved with this great group, from fundraising to hands-on helping.

When most of us hear a term like “Board of Directors,” we get an image of stuffy old men in suits and ties sitting around a glassy table in some high-rise conference room. But if you think that’s what the Secular Student Alliance’s board is like, then we have some news for you! At this year’s in-person board meeting, Ashley Paramore put together a video showing both the diversity and the activity of our Board of Directors. Check it out and get to know our leaders a bit better!

The Atheism Tapes is a six-part series that was aired on the BBC, presented by Jonathan Miller. Each episode features Miller presenting his favorite moments from an individual interview with commentary, in the style of a “director’s cut.” The SSA’s intern Brendan Dieffenbach reviews the project.