The Secular Student Alliance is proud to announce its first-ever Regional Leadership Summit, to be held Feb. 12-14, 2010. The summit will be hosted by the Atheists, Humanists and Agnostics (AHA!) at Stanford University in Stanford, CA. This weekend session is a great opportunity for student leaders to fine-tune their group-running skills, meet other leaders from the area, network with local off-campus organizations, and have a great time!

The Secular Student Alliance is seeking two to four interns for the winter of 2010. These positions are ten weeks long and have either a $100/week (20 hr./week) or $200/week (40 hr./week) stipend, and are based in our office in Columbus, OH.

Roy Natian, founder of the Bruin Alliance of Skeptics and Secularists, found his group in a unique position when Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron appeared in person on UCLA's campus to distribute the Living Waters Ministry's version of Darwin's Origin of Species. Roy and Ben Jolitz both shared their experiences "confronting Comfort."

Catherine Blackwell is the founder of the Secular Student Alliance at the University of Maryland - Baltimore County. When asked about her beliefs and the group she's leading, she wrote these responses. She eloquently counters some of the most common questions we hear about our groups, and so we're delighted to share her explanations.

Congratulations to Shelley Mountjoy, a telecommunications graduate student at George Mason University in Fairfax County, Virginia, the second-place recipient of the 2009 American Atheists scholarship.

Austin Dacey, Ph.D., is a secular philosopher and human rights activist with a new presentation on blasphemy, free speech and the future of human rights. Dr. Dacey has contacted the Secular Student Alliance in order to bring his new presentation to campuses across the U.S.

Becky Robinson, president of the Freethinkers of UTA (University of Texas - Arlington), prepares a "Friends of the Freethinkers of UTA" handout every year to pass out to members of her student group. She has generously allowed us to publish her handout as a model for your own group to use.

Each year, American Atheists holds a scholarship competition for student atheist activists. A first place prize of $2,000 and a $1,000 runner-up prize will be awarded to outstanding young atheist activists. In addition, the Chinn Scholarship is a grant of $1,000 to an outstanding gay/lesbian atheist activist. The deadline for entries is January 31, 2010!

Patheos.com, the premier online destination for balanced religious and spiritual information and dialogue, invites you to be a part of our Faith on Campus Video Contest. As a campus organization involved in the practice and promotion of your faith, we welcome your submissions!

As part of its contribution to the Center for Inquiry's Campaign for Free Expression, the Council for Secular Humanism is sponsoring a Free Expression Cartoon Contest . The Council invites professional and amateur artists to submit their sharpest, cleverest, and most ingenious creations touching on that most sensitive subject: religion.