The Secular Student Alliance is proud to announce its New England Leadership Summit, to be held April 16-18, 2010. The summit will be hosted at Harvard University in Boston, MA. 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!

It's time for the Secular Student Alliance's Spring 2010 Affiliation Renewal! This is the semiannual survey which we administer to all our student groups in order to make sure you're still alive, see what you've been up to, and find out how we have (or haven't) been able to help. Every SSA affiliate group is required to complete the Affiliation Renewal, so read on to find out what you need to do.

The Secular Student Alliance is looking for dedicated leaders who would like to run for positions on the SSA's Board of Directors! The SSA is a democratic organization and all SSA members are eligible to run for a position on the Board of Directors. Elections take place this May, and board terms are two years long.

The Secular Student Alliance is pleased to announce that we have added Mormon-turned-atheist Ted Cox and atheist activist Matt Dillahunty to our Speakers Bureau. The Speakers Bureau consists of freethought speakers who have graciously offered to speak/present/debate on your campus for free.

The atheist movement made a big step last Friday when the Secular Coalition for America arranged a policy briefing with White House officials. A delegation of about 60 nontheists convened in the nation's capital to engage with the administration. by Jesse Galef

This past February, I had the pleasure of attending the Secular Student Alliance's Northern California Leadership Summit at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. It was my honor to represent SHIFT, the secular student group at the University of Utah, as its president and co-founder. by Jason Cooperrider

A beloved freethinking activist and member of the Secular Student Alliance, passed away on February 17th, 2010 after a long battle with cancer. Helen worked as a physician in Cincinnati, OH for over thirty years, helped found Camp Quest, and was a strong supporter of the freethought movement. by August Brunsman

Lucy Gubbins is the president of the Alliance of Happy Atheists, a secular student group at the University of Oregon. In January, their campus newspaper made the strange decision to reprint an anti-atheist screed which had first been published at Portland State University three months earlier. Lucy mobilized her group to respond with polite letters to the editor. We've reprinted her letter here.

For Darwin Day 2010, the Secular Student Alliance at George Mason University made arrangements for a speaker, and planned to celebrate Darwin Day with what would have been a fabulous pasta dinner and awesome guest lecture.The weather had different plans, though. Snowmageddon '10 hit and our pasta extravaganza became 15 pizzas. by Shelley Mountjoy

On Saturday, November 7, 2009, Secular Humanism, Inquiry and Freethought (SHIFT) at the University of Utah, celebrated what would have been the 75th birthday of Carl Sagan, famed astronomer, skeptic, activist, and writer. uring his 62 years on our planet, Sagan inspired many people and had a significant impact on our world. by Jason Cooperrider

It's in a dungeon. That was my first thought as I timidly made my way through the basement of an office building, searching for the headquarters of the Secular Student Alliance. I knew I was in the right place when I saw the dry erase board with a picture of the Flying Spaghetti Monster saying "Howdy!" I was just starting my internship at the Secular Student Alliance for the 2009 Autumn quarter. by Samantha Snyder

The University of Alberta Atheist and Agnostic Society hosted a debate between Massimo Pigliucci and Michael Horner asking "Does God Exist?" The theatre was packed with over 600 students in a terrific event. by Dan McKechnie

I've been around the philosophical block a number of times. As a life-long atheist and an activist with 10 years of group-running experience under my belt, I feel like I've heard most of the arguments in our community. I don't read many books on atheism/humanism/insert-other-labels-here anymore. I almost didn't even pick up a copy of Greg Epstein's Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe. But I'm glad I did. Epstein covers new ground and provides important, thought-provoking points for the movement. by Sharon Moss

When I picked up this book, I didn't have high expectations. Even those expectations were not met. Greg Epstein's Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe disappointed me with its use of the sort of fallacious reasoning we nontheists routinely have to refute from religious people. by Frank Bellamy

The Fellows Alliance is a year-long paid fellowship program by Interfaith Youth Core. It is open to current undergraduates who are committed to organizing interfaith activities and making interfaith cooperation a social norm on their campus. The application deadline is March 15!