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

This Week: Get Ready to Renew!

13-February-2010

	This Week: Get Ready to Renew!
Affiliation Renewal Preview

Freethinking Healer and Rabble-Rouser Helen Kagin dies at 76

11-February-2010

A beloved freethinking activist, and member of the Secular Student Alliance, passed away on February 17^th, 2010 after a long battle with cancer. Helen worked as a physician in Cincinnati, OH for over thirty years.

I had the pleasure and honor of knowing Helen for just shy of eleven years. The joy, intensity, and brilliance with which she lived her life are totally impossible to capture in words. At Camp Quest Ohio, most of the kids and younger counselors played this vigorous, no-holds-barred version of keep away in the pool with a ball. There was no leader, no ref, no written rules, no score keeping. It just came together organically, summer after summer. With a small handful of exceptions, only the youngest staffers played with any regularity. Well into her seventies, Helen could be counted on to play every time her and the ball were in the pool at the same time.

Secular Student Alliance offers student registration & travel grants for 2010 American Atheists' convention

30-January-2010

UPDATE: The deadline for travel grants has passed.

The Secular Student Alliance is proud to be partnering with American Atheists by providing student registration for their 2010 convention in Newark, New Jersey April 2-4th, 2010.

Student registration is $75 for full-time students who are members of the Secular Student Alliance ($10/year). Join now! This is different from being a member of a Secular Student Alliance affiliate group. Register now!

Student Registration for American Atheists Convention Coming Soon(ish)

4-January-2010

The Secular Student Alliance will be running registration for the 2010 American Atheists Convention. The convention will be April 2nd-4th and be held at the Renaissance Newark Airport Hotel. The student registration page should go live by February.

Secular Student Alliance Advisory Board Chair on Fresh Air 12/23 and ABC World News on 12/27

14-December-2009

Humanism and Secularism will receive some great national media attention this week as Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe, by Harvard Humanist Chaplain Greg Epstein, will be the subject of this Wednesday 12/23's episode of NPR's "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross, and of a segment on Sunday 12/27's ABC World News with Diane Sawyer.

Epstein chairs the Advisory Board of the Secular Student Alliance and has worked closely with students at several SSA chapters beyond Harvard—including Yale, Tufts, Boston University, and Brandeis. The book describes the work of the SSA in its appendix; and Greg mentioned the Secular Student Alliance in both of these big interviews, though of course we don’t know what the shows will choose to include.

Good Without God has drawn strong praise from both secular commentators as an introduction to Humanism, yet it has also managed to win a very positive response from influential religious leaders who are increasingly realizing they can work with and even learn from the nonreligious.

image credit

Harvard Professor and noted author Steven Pinker has said, “Good Without God is not just a brilliant book title but an indispensable and humane ideal. Greg Epstein's wise and warm explanation of the humanist world view goes beyond the recent atheist bestsellers and speaks to the moral and spiritual impulses that have traditionally attracted people to religion.”

RELEASE: Richard Dawkins Foundation Makes Donation to Atheist Student Movement

29-November-2009

December 2, 2009

For Release: IMMEDIATELY UPON RECEIPT
Contact: August Brunsman – (614) 441-9588 – august[AT]secularstudents[DOT]org

Release: Secular Student Alliance Spooks Ray Comfort

11-November-2009

For Immediate Release
Contact: August Brunsman – (614) 441-9588 – august[AT]secularstudents[DOT]org

November 18, 2009

COLUMBUS, Ohio – In a move that avoids the counter-protests organized by the Secular Student Alliance and other organizations, Ray Comfort and the Living Waters Ministry covertly began their Origin Into Schools project today, November 18th, instead of the previously announced November 19th. Altered copies of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, which contain a introduction which misrepresents the theory of evolution, were distributed on college campuses today. The Secular Student Alliance has been mobilizing groups on college campuses to respond with a positive, science-based campaign but took Comfort at his word that the distribution would occur on the 19th.

“We’re sorry that Mr. Comfort felt he had to mislead everyone just to avoid the counter-efforts of our campus groups,” said August Brunsman, Executive Director of the Secular Student Alliance. “Apparently he thought his deception would only work if nobody was around to tell the truth.” Counter-efforts were planned at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Berkeley, the University of Virginia, UNC Chapel Hill, UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Irvine, San Diego State University, University of South Florida, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, University of New Brunswick, and elsewhere.

The altered version of On the Origin of Species distributed by Living Waters Ministry contains a 50-page introduction written by Comfort attempting to cast doubt on Darwin’s theory of evolution and connect Darwin to Hitler. The books feature Comfort's section in a much larger font than Darwin's section. Comfort's section is rife with illustrations, but the single illustration in the original Origin of Species has not been reproduced.

In an attempt to prevent the ministry from tricking college students, the Secular Student Alliance national office assisted affiliated college groups to schedule protests, host speakers, write letters to the editor, show films, and distribute the original version of Darwin’s 150-year old masterpiece. Their plans will go forward despite Comfort’s sudden, unexplained change of dates. The Secular Student Alliance has collected resources to counter Living Waters' efforts at http://www.secularstudents.org/originintoschools.

“The best way to defeat misinformation is with education,” said Brunsman. “We would have loved to have a peaceful exchange of ideas with the ministry, but we’ll settle for having the last word in students’ minds.”

###

The Secular Student Alliance is an educational nonprofit that supports a network of over 180 campus groups which promote the ideals of scientific rationality, secularism, democracy, and human-based ethics. Learn more at http://www.secularstudents.org.

Release: Atheist Youth Movement Leads Charge Against Anti-Darwin Book Project

7-November-2009

Release: Atheist Youth Movement Leads Charge Against Anti-Darwin Book Project

November 10, 2009

For Release: IMMEDIATELY UPON RECEIPT

Contact: August Brunsman – (614) 441-9588 – august[AT]secularstudents[DOT]org

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Secular Student Alliance is mobilizing student groups to counter the Living Waters Ministry program to distribute an edition of Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species containing a special introduction misrepresenting the book’s claims. The SSA national leadership is encouraging its campus affiliates to schedule protests, host speakers, write letters to the editor, show films, and distribute the original version of Darwin’s 150-year old masterpiece.

Secular Student Alliance & Secular Coalition for America: Capitol Hill Scholars Program

5-November-2009

The Secular Coalition for America is launching its first-ever Capitol Hill Scholars Program! We're excited to announce this amazing opportunity for our students.

Have you ever wanted to spend a summer interning on Capitol Hill?

Are you looking to boost your resume while defending the values and principles important to you?

Do you want the opportunity to make great professional contacts with important advocacy organizations on Capitol Hill?

Are you interested in earning college credit for promoting public policy that nontheistic Americans care about?

If you answered yes to these questions, consider applying for the Secular Coalition for America’s Capitol Hill Scholars Program.

Here’s how it works:

While we can’t guarantee that you’ll land an internship on Capitol Hill, the Secular Coalition will work with you to get your resume and cover letter through the door to elected offices and do everything in our power to help you land a highly coveted internship on Capitol Hill.

Applicants who are accepted for internships will then officially become part of our Capitol Hill Scholars Program, where we will offer you fantastic learning and networking opportunities and the tools and skills you need to be a nontheist advocate on Capitol Hill.

We also hope to offer a stipend for students who are part of the Scholars Program based on financial need.

If you are interested in this summer internship opportunity, contact Sasha Bartolf, the Legislative Director for the Secular Coalition for America, to begin the process of applying to work on Capitol Hill. You can email her directly at sasha[AT]secular[DOT]org

Support the SSA

WE are young people who...

Talk about ideas seriously.

Live ethical & fulfilling lives without the supernatural.

Think it is more important that we can live together than that we all agree.

See democracy as an ideal worth living up to.

Believe science and reason lead to more reliable knowledge than faith.

WE are members of the

October is Sex-Ed Action Month!

20-September-2009

The Secular Student Alliance
Sex Ed Month of Action

Coming Soon:

October 18: National Secular Service Day
Fall Affiliation Renewal
SSA Student Membership Drive

New Leader?
No Longer a Leader?
Click Here and Let us Know!

Support the SSA

Under the Bush administration, school districts received federal money for promoting theologically-based, ineffective "abstinence-only" sex education rather than medically accurate education. The Responsible Education About Life (REAL) Act intends to counter this by providing federal funding to support responsible, comprehensive sex education in schools. This education would include age-appropriate, science-based, and medically accurate information about both abstinence and contraception. Currently, there are no dedicated federal funds allocated for comprehensive sex education in schools.

Advocates for Youth has partnered with Choice USA, Law Students for Reproductive Justice, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Planned Parenthood, SIECUS, Sierra Club and Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom to make October a nation-wide Sex-Ed Month of Action. The Secular Student Alliance is cooperating with Advocates for Youth to help promote the Sex-Ed Month of Action.

We encourage our affiliate groups to get involved and hold an event to take action on sex education!

Secular Student Alliance September 2008 - September 2009 Activity Summary

15-September-2009

The past year has been phenomenally successful for the Secular Student Alliance. Our affiliate count has gone up by over 25%. This report details our campus group affiliate support, our conference, our electronic newsletter, and our summer internships. This report is also available in PDF.

Secular Student Alliance Speakers Bureau Encourages Dialogue with Rev. Jonathan Weyer

29-August-2009

The Secular Student Alliance is pleased to announce that we have added the Reverend Jonathan Weyer to our Speakers Bureau. While Rev. Weyer is an ordained orthodox minister, he has an uncommon penchant for fostering dialogue and cooperation between the religious and the nonreligious.

Rev. Jonathan Weyer is a self described religious nutjob who lives in Columbus, Ohio with his wife Wendy, three kids and a cat. He is a campus minister at The Ohio State University with the CCO-The Cloister and is an ordained minister with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Along with Ashley Paramore, board member of the SSA, he planned a discussion with Hemant Mehta that won a Multicultural award from the Ohio State University. He loves bringing together believers, nonbelievers, skeptics, atheists, and doubters to discuss why God calls people to a lifestyle of doubt. In his spare time, he loves to write, read and drink hard cider. He also maintains a blog for the Thomas Society at www.thomas2026.wordpress.com.

The Creation Museum Trip: A Religious Experience?

6-August-2009

by Senior Campus Organizer Lyz Liddell

When I agreed to organize the Secular Student Alliance trip to the Creation Museum, I wasn't expecting it to be a "religious experience." In fact, I was expecting it to be a mostly overlooked crowd of 20-30 students and maybe a few local supporters going through with PZ Myers, discussing the inanity of what we saw.

So even I was surprised when we ended up with almost 300 freethinkers – or, as PZ put it, "quietly chortling, science-minded people." Did I think we were going to have an epiphany and recant our evolutionist ways? Of course not! Did I think we would get kicked out? Well, probably not. But I wasn't expecting the stories of the people I met to have such an impact – and those stories made all the difference.

The Secular Student Alliance 2009 Conference: Freethinking Friends & Secular Cephalopods

25-July-2009

Conference attendees getting down with their cephalopod selves!

White House Seeks out Secular Student Alliance

9-July-2009

Taking the New Enlightenment to the White House... thanks to you!

Support the SSA

Single donation

U.S. Mail donation form (.pdf)

Monthly recurring donations

$50/month

$20/month

$10/month

$5/month

PayPal account required. You'll be prompted to create a new account if you don't have an existing one.

WE are young people who ...

Talk about ideas seriously.

Live ethical & fulfilling lives without the supernatural.

Think it is more important that we can live together than that we all agree.

See democracy as an ideal worth living up to.

Believe science and reason lead to more reliable knowledge than faith.

WE are members of the ...

The Secular Student Alliance is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. All donations are tax-deductible in the U.S.

July 16, 2009

Last year I began an email to our supporters like this:

"It isn’t often that a non-profit leader has the opportunity to report that his organization has grown more than 84% in a single year. But that's exactly what I have the pleasure of doing today.Since this time last year, the campus affiliate base of the Secular Student Alliance has increased 84%, from 70 active groups in 2007 to 129 groups as I write this e-mail."

Our growth continues and we're now up to 147 affiliate groups. But our growth aside, I have an even more spectacular piece of news to share with you today:

I recently had a one-on-one phone meeting with the associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs. He sought us out after learning about us via a meeting with the Secular Coalition for America. In specific, the White House has taken interest in the fact that secular students all over the country are getting organized. The White House is eager to see Secular Student Alliance affiliate groups play an active role in the push to get more Americans involved in public service. We will continue pursuing a relationship with the Obama administration -- and future administrations -- and make sure that they are aware of the amazing work that our student groups do.

You may be wondering what I talked about. I told them about our affiliate at the University of Illinois and how they have been traveling to New Orleans over the past two Spring Breaks, with a campus Christian group, to help restore and rebuild homes. I told them about our affiliate at The Ohio State University and how members helped clean up and improve a hiking trail in the Appalachian Mountains a few weeks ago. I told them about several other students who were making personal pushes to eradicate stigma about nontheism and let people know that you can be good without God.

Being directly in touch with the executive branch is an exciting development. As a founding member of the Secular Coalition for America, we have been working to let members of congress know about the concerns of secular students for years. We now have the ear of the White House.

We could not have come this far without help from donors like you. It is only with paid staff, money for travel grants, money for project grants, our web server, our literature, and so many other things that cost money that we’ve been able to create a movement and an organization that is gaining so much attention and respect.

Until August 1st, thanks to a generous matching offer from the Vital Spark foundation, all donations to the Secular Student Alliance will be matched up to a total of $20,000. So if you give $100, the Secular Student Alliance will get $200. The Secular Student Alliance is also a 501(c)(3) charity, so your gift is tax deductible.

At the Secular Student Alliance we run a very efficient shop. We are a quite small organization to be in direct dialog with the White House and every dollar we get makes a big difference. You have the opportunity to help us ensure that young, secular voices play a central role in the conversation about what it means to be American.

My deepest thanks to everyone who supports the work of the Secular Student Alliance.

Hemant Mehta
Chair
Secular Student Alliance Board of Directors

P.S. It was excellent to have the phone meeting with the White House, and we left open the possibility of meeting in person at some point. Every donation takes us closer to allowing us to fund work like this.