Secular Student Alliance: Atheists, Humanists, Agnostics & Others - Members

Student Voice Follow-Up: University of Michigan SSA

31-August-2008

This month, Leslie Zukor had the opportunity to interview Patrick Julius, the founder and President of the University of Michigan chapter of the Secular Student Alliance. He is 20 years old, a Dean's Scholar, and a third-year honors student studying Cognitive Science at Michigan. He is also active in Bilateral, a student group for bisexuals, and the Progressive Alliance, a coalition of liberal campus organizations. His hobbies include writing and photography.

This interview is a follow-up of a 2007 Student Voice interview with Julius in the Secular Student Alliance eMpirical. The original was published in January of that year and can be found here: http://www.secularstudents.org/node/561.

Atheism at Dartmouth

20-August-2008

This is the first of a three-part series by Alex DiBranco.

“Now that I know atheists can be moral—” I burst into laughter, interrupting Catherine, a Dartmouth junior and Catholic friend of mine. She frowned. “I’m serious,” she said, continuing with her statement—now that she knew, she could possibly date an atheist.

When I decided to write an article looking into perspectives on atheism for my journalism class, I wasn’t quite prepared for many of the responses I would get, even from amongst my own friends. The default assumption that atheists cannot be moral could still bring me to occasional incredulous laughter at the end of my research, despite having been confronted with a number of responses from intelligent young persons, my peers, telling me that, as an atheist, I lack morals.

Close Up with the Secular Student Alliance Board of Directors

12-August-2008

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!

Maybe you’re saying something like, “Hey, I could do that,” or, “I’d like to be a little more involved in this organization!” If that’s the case, maybe you should consider running for election as a member of our Board of Directors. We hold elections in February, and any member of the SSA is eligible to run. (Not a member? Join today – it’s only $10-$35 depending on your academic status!)

Welcome New Affiliates!

15-April-2008

The SSA is growing faster than ever! Since the beginning of March, we've gained thirteen new affiliate groups. Let's welcome our new members!

TCNJ Secular Student Alliance
THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY
Facebook Page
Group E-Mail: TCNJ(AT)secularstudents(DOT)org
610 Cromwell Hall
Ewing, NJ 08628                Affiliated on 3/4/2008

University of Melbourne Secular Society (UMSS)
UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
Website: union.unimelb.edu.au/clubs/special-interest#sec
Facebook Page
Group E-Mail: umsecsociety(AT)gmail(DOT)com
119 Wallace Rd
Christmas Hall, VIC 3775            Affiliated on 3/5/2008

Atheist Student Organization
SACRAMENTO STATE
Website: groups.yahoo.com/group/ASO_CSUS/
Group E-Mail: aso_csus(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
Sacramento, CA 95814            Affiliated on 3/6/2008

Secular Student Alliance
UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE
Website: udel.edu/stu-org/ssa/
Group E-Mail: frank(AT)udel(DOT)edu
Secular Student Alliance
218 Trabant University Center
Newark, Delaware 19716            Affiliated on 3/7/2008

Scientific Understanding and Reason Enrichment (SURE)
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - SANTA BARBARA
Facebook Page
Group E-Mail: SUREucsb(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
6750 El Colegio Rd. #248
Goleta, CA 93117                      Affiliated on 3/11/2008

Reason Inquiry Skepticism Empiricism (RISE)
CITRUS COLLEGE
Website: www.myspace.com/rise_citrusfreethinkers
Facebook Page
Group E-Mail: citruscollege(AT)secularstudents(DOT)org
4922 N. Enid Ave.
Covina, CA 91722                Affiliated on 3/12/2008

Atheists, Humanists, and Agnostics @ Stanford
STANFORD UNIVERSITY
Facebook Page
Group E-Mail: stanford(AT)secularstudents(DOT)org
609 Escondido Rd Apt 226
Stanford, CA 94305-7021            Affiliated on 3/16/2008

Campus Atheists and Agnostics
MINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY - MANKATO
Website: www.mnsu.edu/supersite/directories/rso/details.php?name=Campus+Atheists+and+Agnostics
Facebook Page
Mankato, MN 56001                Affiliated on 3/24/2008

Guelph Skeptics
UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH
Website: guelphskeptics.freethoughtassociation.ca
Facebook Page
Group E-Mail: guelphskeptics(AT)gmail(DOT)com
36 Brentwood Dr.
Guelph, Ontario N1H5M7            Affiliated on 3/26/08

Humanist Student Association
INDIANA UNIVERSITY - BLOOMINGTON
Facebook Page
Bloomington, IN 47401                Affiliated on 4/2/2008

Secular Penn
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Group E-Mail: pennfreethought(AT)googlegroups(DOT)com
4002 Chestnut St
Philadelphia, PA 19104                Affiliated on 4/2/2008

Atheist & Agnostic Alliance
University of London-Royal Holloway
Facebook Page
Group E-Mail: adrianhayter(AT)gmail(DOT)com
B1B01 Wedderburn
Royal Holloway, University of London
Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX                Affiliated on 4/2/2008

Secular Student Organization
DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY
Website: www.dsusso.org
Group E-Mail: derekhenkels(AT)gmail(DOT)com
410 SW 1st St
Madison, SD 57042                    Affiliated on 4/3/2008

Call for Submissions: Secular Short Stories

19-January-2008

Our Struggles with Disbelief will be a compilation of short stories from current and upcoming leaders in the atheist/agnostic/freethinker/humanist movement. The short stories should be non-fiction and discuss challenges that the author has faced as a nonbeliever. Submissions should be no longer than 4,000 words (about 10 pages double-spaced, Times New Roman 12).

Authors whose pieces are selected to appear in the book will not be compensated, but all proceeds from the sale of the book will go to the Secular Student Alliance. Please submit pieces (both as an attachment and pasted into the text of the e-mail) to Lisa Swinehart (lisams3@yahoo.com) no later than April 7, 2008. For examples of short stories on this topic please see SSA eNews issues 9 (here) & 10 (here).

American Atheists 2008 Scholarship Competition

15-January-2008

Attention current and prospective college students! The American Atheists Scholarship Competition is now underway. Awards based on atheistic activism are available to both current and prospective students, so get your application in today.

What is it?
There are two scholarships available. The Founders' Scholarship grants a first place award of $2,500 and a runner-up prize of $1,000 to Atheist students going to college every year. The Chinn Scholarship is a $1,000 grant to an outstanding gay/lesbian Atheist.

Openings for the SSA Board of Directors

16-December-2007

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. There will be five open seats in the election taking place this February. Board terms are two years long.

Board members are responsible for setting goals and policy for the organization, fundraising, reviewing progress, and promoting SSA. All Board members are expected to participate in fundraising. We are happy to train you to do this, but you must be willing.

Student's Fight Against Preaching Teacher: Part 2

12-December-2007

Matthew LaClair is a senior at Kearny High School in Kearny, NJ. His work to keep religion out of his school was covered in the New York Times and the Village Voice, among others. His work has earned him several awards, including the Freedom From Religion Foundation's Thomas Jefferson Student Activist Award. Here, he tells his story to the SSA. This is the second part; you can read the first part here.

Student Article: Christian Recruiting: Amusing for Many, Harmful for Some

20-October-2007

“Religion poisons everything,” asserts Christopher Hitchens in the title of his new book, God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. It is easy to dismiss such sweeping statements, but after less than a month studying in America, specifically in George Mason Virginia, I strongly object to the techniques some Christian organizations use to recruit soldiers for Christ.

As my ever-growing pile of Christian documents testifies, I don’t mind receiving leaflets. I consider it harmless and often amusing. Amongst my most prized possessions is a Jehovah’s Witnesses booklet which censures Darwin via quotes from acclaimed scientist Saint Paul. I also prize an anti-evolution leaflet from Christians on Campus with quotes from “zoologist Thomas Emmel” and “Princeton University Math Professor John Erik Forness,” both of whom believe in God.

Recruiting with Facebook

14-August-2007

It’s that time of the year again, and students everywhere are preparing to study, work, party…and procrastinate for hours while clicking around on Facebook, the most popular “social networking” site among post-secondary students. Facebook can be an extraordinary organizing tool for your secular student group. Many group leaders have found that it’s more effective than e-mail or the Web for raising awareness and promoting events. Through Facebook, you can invite students to attend your events or join your organization, host a discussion forum, and share other vital information (website link, officers, mission statement, etc.)

Welcome to our New SCA Members!

25-July-2007

A warm welcome to our new members from the Secular Coalition for America, from the volunteers and staff of the Secular Student Alliance!

Due to your willingness to share your email addresses with the founding member organizations of the Secular Coalition for America (SCA), we are proud to add you as subscribers to the Secular Student Alliance eNews. The Secular Student Alliance (SSA) is an educational non-profit organization that assists atheist, agnostic, humanist, and secular high school as well as college students in establishing campus groups dedicated to freethought, human based ethics, and secular activism. Currently, the SSA has 80 affiliate groups in eight countries across the globe. We offer our affiliates travel grants to conferences, project grants to help them in their activist pursuits, an impressive speakers bureau, full-time staff support, and more. It is our mission to ensure the future of secular activism by engaging our youth, and to give freethinking and skeptical students an alternative to the plethora of religious organizations that pervade our educational institutions.

A Tale of Two Humanists

13-June-2007

This article originally appeared in the SSA eMpirical No. 20 - June 2007.

Of all the students we interviewed at the New Humanism conference, one conversation in particular stands out. Leah Vincent and Paul Reisz are from Brooklyn, where they both attended and recently graduated from college. Leah will be attending Harvard University for graduate school in August, where she plans to become involved with the Harvard Graduate Humanist Community.

Congratulations to New Board of Directors Members!

14-April-2007

This article originally appeared in the SSA eMpirical No. 18 - It's Spring, We Think.

The votes are in from the recent election, and we are excited to announce four new members of the SSA Board of Directors. Let’s welcome and congratulate Becky Robinson, Andy Buttler, Jacquie Kuzma, and Mary Ellen Sikes. This article consists of material shamelessly stolen from our Board of Directors page, so check it out to read about all our excellent board members!

SSA eMpirical No. 17 - The Harvard Conference

15-March-2007

Secular Student eMpirical

03/13/2007

In this issue:

Attend the Conference - Get a Job

7-March-2007

This article originally appeared in the SSA eMpirical No. 17 - The Harvard Conference.

Important Update: The American Humanist Association is hiring right now: read more.

SSA board member Maggie Ardiente tells SSA’s Senior Campus Organizer Alison Bates how she landed her job with the American Humanist Association by making connections at the SSA’s 2004 conference. Come to Boston ready with your resume…and we're serious about that!