We're proud to announce the Secular Student Alliance's Summer Interns for 2013! They are:
Tori Rehr - Resource Development
Tori is a junior majoring in in Psychology and minoring in Spanish and Gender Studies at Juniata College. She studied in Quito, Ecuador during the 2012-13 academic year, where she interned at Timmy Global Health and worked as a translator during medical brigades. She previously worked as research assistant to the Psychology Department at Juniata, investigating cognitive effects of language learning and the political implications of multiculturiasm.
Tori began to develop her interest in secular issues during high school. She worked in resource development at the Juniata College Office of Student Activities, and is excited to apply this knowledge to secular advocacy. Tori is also active in the interfaith movement and looks forward to working at the Secular Student Alliance this summer!
Kate Donovan - Communications
Kate is a rising senior at Northwestern double majoring in psychological services and psychology. At some point she'd like to make people sit on couches and tell her about their feelings, but right now she writes in different places around the internet. Kate was raised believing alternative medicine worked, and now spends her time making skeptical faces at it. She is the outgoing president of Northwestern's SSA, served as Foundation Beyond Belief's Communications and Marketing intern, and is on the Secular Woman speakers bureau.
Liz Dudek - Graphic Design
Liz Dudek grew up as a devout Christian around the area of Dallas, TX. It wasn't until she found the Secular Students at Collin College that she felt comfortable exploring her doubts and skepticism, and eventually she came out as an atheist in early 2011. Since then, she has been the webmaster and Public Relations Coordinator for SSCC, and the Publicity Director for the 2013 North Texas Secular Convention. Now that she has her Associate of Science, she plans to attend the University of North Texas and major in either Public Relations or International Relations and she is currently working on a certificate in Graphic Design. Her goal is to work for a nonprofit organization in the future.
In March 2013, Secular Students and Skeptics Society at University of Colorado was able to host Greta Christina thanks to the Speakers Bureau from the national SSA. This article summarizes the experiences of that event for the group.
On March 6, 2013, our group had Greta Christina come talk on our campus about the importance of debating with theists. The highlights of her talk included forums which might be more suited for debate, suitable topics that would be worth discussing and how to pick and choose the people that might be worth debating with. She also talked about several examples from her own experiences and the lessons that she learned from those past experiences. Finally, she emphasized why it is important to have debates about religion and, even if it’s not your particular forte, not stifle those who do debate others on religion.
On the topic of forums, she stressed the importance of publicity; making sure that debates are in a public forum for others to have access to. She made a note that the people who are often more influenced by a debate are not those participating, but those who are on the sidelines watching.
In February 2013, Penn Secular Society at University of Pennsylvania was able to host Dr. Andy Norman thanks to the Speakers Bureau from the national SSA. This article summarizes the experiences of that event for the group.
Penn Secular Society was able to fly Dr. Andrew Norman to Philadelphia to give a talk, and put him up at a hotel near campus. None of this would have been possible without the financial help we received from the Secular Student Alliance. Additionally, we bought a banner with our name and logo on it which we used to advertise this event, and we distributed lots of flyers.
Dr. Norman titled his talk "Faith, Proof, and Everything in Between", and spoke on the interplay between faith and proof, and to what standards we should hold our beliefs. The event attracted many of our members, and even more students from various campus religious groups, so the total attendance ended up being just over fifty people. Dr. Norman spoke for around forty-five minutes, and then we had another twenty minutes or so of questions from the audience.
Tori is a junior majoring in in Psychology and minoring in Spanish and Gender Studies at Juniata College. She studied in Quito, Ecuador during the 2012-13 academic year, where she interned at Timmy Global Health and worked as a translator during medical brigades. She previously worked as research assistant to the Psychology Department at Juniata, investigating cognitive effects of language learning and the political implications of multiculturiasm.
Kate is a rising senior at Northwestern double majoring in psychological services and psychology. At some point she'd like to make people sit on couches and tell her about their feelings, but right now she writes in different places around the internet. Kate was raised believing alternative medicine worked, and now spends her time making skeptical faces at it. She is the outgoing president of Northwestern's SSA, served as Foundation Beyond Belief's Communications and Marketing intern, and is on the Secular Woman speakers bureau.
Liz Dudek grew up as a devout Christian around the area of Dallas, TX. It wasn't until she found the Secular Students at Collin College that she felt comfortable exploring her doubts and skepticism, and eventually she came out as an atheist in early 2011. Since then, she has been the webmaster and Public Relations Coordinator for SSCC, and the Publicity Director for the 2013 North Texas Secular Convention. Now that she has her Associate of Science, she plans to attend the University of North Texas and major in either Public Relations or International Relations and she is currently working on a certificate in Graphic Design. Her goal is to work for a nonprofit organization in the future.
with theists. The highlights of her talk included forums which might be more suited for debate, suitable topics that would be worth discussing and how to pick and choose the people that might be worth debating with. She also talked about several examples from her own experiences and the lessons that she learned from those past experiences. Finally, she emphasized why it is important to have debates about religion and, even if it’s not your particular forte, not stifle those who do debate others on religion. 
