Secular Student Alliance - Cooperation

Contribute to our knowledge regarding social, political, and religious attitudes

11-June-2008

Prof. Liz Cornwell, a friend of the Secular Student Alliance and an assistant professor of research at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, is doing a research project on social, political, and religious attitudes. The survey is available for anyone 18 years or old to take at http://recornwelllab.com/consent_form.html

The questionnaire takes between 45 minutes to an hour to complete. The results of this study will be made available after its completion. Your participation is appreciated, thanks!

Schedule for Secular Student Alliance Programming at 2008 Conference

27-May-2008

The 2008 Secular Student Alliance conference is being held jointly with the International Humanist and Ethical Union's 17th World Humanist Congress, the American Humanist Association's 67th Annual National Conference and the IHEYO's 5th International Youth Conference.

Students with a valid student ID can register for the whole event (including two meals) for only $40 (as compared to $299 for non-students). This price gives students access to the entire conference* which starts at 9 a.m. on the morning of June 6th (Friday) and goes until the early afternoon of June 8th (Sunday). There is a tentative schedule of the AHA and IHEU events on the AHA's website. Students are very welcome to attend any AHA and IHEU events except for their board and membership meetings (which require membership in those organizations).

Secular Student Alliance Board Member Matthew LaClair Published in L.A. Times

27-April-2008

Matthew LaClair will be presenting at the 2008 Secular Student Alliance conference. This conference is being held jointly with the conference of the American Humanist Association and the world congress of the International Humanist and Ethical Union.

Secular Student Alliance board member Matthew LaClair is the author of an Op-Ed piece in the April 27 edition of the LA Times. In it, he talks about the recent controversy where a nationally used American Government textbook was found to contain several mistakes and conservative bias. Matthew, with the help of the Center for Inquiry, alerted the publishers of the book (along with the media) about these problems. The full report can be found on the Center's website.

Matthew urges students to not remain silent when these misstatements occur. He writes:

What is most distressing is not that some public school teachers preach their religion, or that some authors put politics ahead of education. It is that it is so rare for anyone to call them on it. This text is widely used. Yet to my knowledge, no one has challenged these incorrect and misleading statements.

Secular Coalition for America Points to $30 Million in Federal Tax Money Earmarked for Religious Activities

2-April-2008

The Secular Student Alliance is a founding member of the Secular Coalition for America, the national lobby for atheists, humanists, freethinkers, and other nontheistic Americans.

During the appropriations process for fiscal year 2008, Congress passed over 140 earmarks totaling almost $30 million in public funding for overtly religious activities. Americans' tax dollars are already supporting

training programs for evangelical lay ministers
homeless shelters that seek to convert clients to Christianity
colleges whose students must believe in biblical inerrancy

... and the list continues. On April 2nd the Secular Coalition for America delivered letters to all 107 Congress members on its database of constitutionally suspect earmarks, and the Coalition's findings have been provided to those member organizations that engage in litigation (the American Humanist Association and the Freedom From Religion Foundation).

Secular Student Alliance Conference - June 2008

1-April-2008

It's hard for us at Secular Student Alliance Headquarters to believe that it's been almost eleven months since we were at the New Humanism conference at Harvard. In less than two months we're going be at E Pluribus Unum: Reclaiming Humanist Values. This event will simultaneously be the 67th annual conference of the American Humanist Association, the 17th World Congress of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, and the 8th annual conference of the Secular Student Alliance. The event will be June 5th through the 8th at the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington, DC.

SPEAKERS

Speakers for the event include Lori Lipman Brown of the Secular Coalition for America, Maryland State Senator Jamie Raskin, Rob Boston of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and Feminist Majority Foundation President Eleanor Smeal.

AWARDEES

Accepting the Humanist of the Year award is U.S. Representative Pete Stark, the first openly nontheistic member in Congress. Accepting the International Humanist Award is author Philip Pullman, author of the best-selling book The Golden Compass, now a major motion picture.

TRAVEL GRANTS

Student registration is only $40 and includes some meals (register today). We are offering $100 and $200 travel grants. The grants are awarded on a rolling basis and will go fast. Apply today for your 2008 conference travel grant! Information on affordable student housing can be found on the conference website.

CAMPUS GROUP BEST AWARDS

At all of our conference, the Secular Student Alliance awards a handful of its affiliate groups for outstanding performance in various areas and we give one group the Best Affiliate award. There are four awards for $300 each and the Best Affiliate award is $500. All the awards come with a nice, shiny plaque. May 1st 2008 is the deadline to apply. Learn more about the awards and apply today.

First Freedom First Simulcast Event in a Theater Near You

23-March-2008

37 Cities to Feature Movie Theater Event Focusing on Need for Church-State Separation in 2008 Elections

The Secular Student Alliance is proud to promote the First Freedom First program: “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Separation of Church and State…But Were Afraid to Ask” March 26.

Actors, musicians and comedians will join church-state community members across the country on Wednesday evening, March 26, 2008 to put church-state separation on the national agenda during the 2008 election season.

Peter Coyote, celebrated Hollywood actor and filmmaker, will emcee the program, which will include such special guests as The Bacon Brothers (featuring actor Kevin Bacon and his brother Michael), actors Michael J. Fox; Jack Klugman; James Whitmore; Wendie Malick; Dan Lauria; and Catherine Dent; comedian and Air America host Marc Maron; singer/songwriter Catie Curtis and satirist Roy Zimmerman.

Student Government: Atheist Student Alliance funding disputed

22-March-2008

From front to back: Ryan Iacovacci, Peter Baker,
Benjamin Brown and Kenan Arodak debated funding for the Atheist Student Alliance at Tuesday's SG Senate Meeting. ORACLE PHOTO/MIKE WILSON

This story originally appeared in the Oracle (the campus newspaper of the University of South Florida) on 3/19/08, and is used by permission.
Article by Candace Kaw, Staff Writer for the Oracle.

A bill for funding for the Atheist Student Alliance was passed after heavy debate during Tuesday's SG Senate meeting, after senators said the group was immoral and had requested too much money.

Bill 48-055 requested $1171.30 for the club and was sponsored by Sen. Dan Shelnutt of the Interim Funding and Transfers Committee. Of that money, $775 was requested for food for meet-and-greets, Bull Market booths, meetings and guest lectures.

Sen. Charles Sherrard, who is majoring in political science, voted against the bill.

"I disapprove. These kinds of organizations are dangerous for our society," Sherrard said.

Paid Southern California Campus Organizing Internship

19-March-2008

The Secular Student Alliance is seeking applicants for its Southern California Campus Organizing Internship (COI). This internship pays $10/hr. and all expenses are covered. This internship will require approximately 10 hours a week. The internship will start in late March or early April and last through early June of 2008 with an option to extend the internship or restart it in the fall. We are willing to be somewhat flexible in terms of time and stipend to meet academic requirements.

While approximately half of the work for this position can be done from any location of the Campus Organizing Intern's choosing, the other half will involve working directly on campuses in Southern California. Again, all travel costs will be covered. The position offers a highly flexible schedule.

The Campus Organizing Intern will help organize and support students who do not see theism as the source of morality--this includes atheists, agnostics, humanists, brights, rationalists and other non-theists. Duties will include working in person and remotely with student groups on campuses in Southern California to improve their operations, provide them with resources and network them with each other and the broader secular movement. SSA senior staff will provide training, direction, and assistance with all of these tasks. The COI will also work to start groups on campuses without groups via flyering, tabling and networking. The position will involve some traveling, public speaking, record keeping, lots of phone and email communication, and some possible resource development.

2008 Travel Grants Now Available

14-March-2008

On June 6-8, 2008 the SSA will be holding its 8th annual conference as part of the E Pluribus Unum: Reclaiming Humanist Values conference being put on by the American Humanist Association and the International Humanist and Ethical Union. The conference will be held in Washington, DC at the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel.

Student participation is key to the success of this conference.

Thanks to generous donations from the Roxbury Foundation, the American Humaniast Association, and other donors, we have established a grant fund to help offset the travel costs incurred by students who attend the conference. We are making $10,000 available in $100 and $200 travel grants. Grants awarded on a rolling basis and will go fast. Apply for your 2008 travel grant today!

Atheist Rocker/Scientist to be Honored at Harvard

13-March-2008

UCLA's Greg Graffin to Be Honored for Lifetime Achievement in Atheism, Punk Rock, and Science

"Cultural Humanism" Awardee is Seminal Punk Singer, Earned Ivy-League PhD in Evolution

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Harvard University's prominent community of atheists and agnostics is poised to honor a rock star and scientist whom they argue is an ideal role model for the nation's millions of non-religious youth.

The Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard has gained considerable national attention in the past year for its unique approach to building a culture and community for the non-religious, and this April 26 it will give its highest honor, the "Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism," to a unique figure: Dr. Greg Graffin, frontman of the influential punk rock band Bad Religion. Graffin, whose "day job" since 1980 has been recording and extensive worldwide touring with a band boasting such hits as "How Could Hell be Any Worse" and "American Jesus," earned his PhD in Zoology at Cornell and is a member of the UCLA's Faculty in Biology, teaching Life Sciences courses covering Darwin and natural selection. Graffin will give an acoustic performance after accepting the award.

"I always put education high on my list of priorities because I thought, Wouldn't it be neat if you can have a singer of your favorite band who also has something more to offer than looking cool - which I don't - or dressing cool - which I don't;" Graffin said. "Those are the things that I try to inspire young people to do, whether it is in the lecture hall or on stage on the Warped Tour."

But Bad Religion, considered among the most influential modern punk bands, has been known for inspiring young people towards a particular set of ideas: those of atheism and Humanism. Graffin's lyrics make plain his passionate disbelief in God. Yet the Harvard Humanists cite his faith in the ability of music and science to improve the world as making the singer unique.

2008 Conference Travel Grant Application

12-March-2008

We're sorry, but the travel grant deadline has passed and there are no more travel grants available at this time.
Even though you will have to pay your own way, we still think you will have a spectacular time at our 2008 conference and we invite you to join us there.

Complimentary Conscience

12-March-2008

Hello Secular Student Alliance eMpirical Subscribers,

Catholics for Choice is a pro-choice, pro-contraception, pro-sexual rights and pro-separation of church and state nonprofit based in Washington, DC. We at the Secular Student Alliance know that very few readers of the eMpirical are Catholic, and we know that not all readers are pro-choice. We hope you're all pro-contraception, pro-sexual rights and pro-separation of church and state. We also hope that many of you will be interested in getting a free copy of Conscience magazine (www.catholicsforchoice.org/conscience/).

Paid Northern California Campus Organizing Internship

5-March-2008

The Secular Student Alliance is seeking applicants for its northern California Campus Organizing Internship (COI). This internship pays $10/hr. and all expenses are covered. This internship will require approximately 10 hours a week. The internship will start in mid to late March and last through late May or early June of 2008 with an option to extend the internship or restart it in the fall. We are willing to be somewhat flexible in terms of time and stipend to meet academic requirements.

While approximately half of the work for this position can be done from any location of the Campus Organizing Intern's choosing, the other half will involve working directly on campuses in northern California. Again, all travel costs will be covered. The position offers a highly flexible schedule.

The Campus Organizing Intern will help organize and support students who do not see theism as the source of morality--this includes atheists, agnostics, humanists, brights, rationalists and other non-theists. Duties will include working in person and remotely with student groups on campuses in northern California to improve their operations, provide them with resources and network them with each other and the broader secular movement. SSA senior staff will provide training, direction, and assistance with all of these tasks. The COI will also work to start groups on campuses without groups via flyering, tabling and networking. The position will involve some traveling, public speaking, record keeping, lots of phone and email communication, and some possible resource development.

The COI will work very closely with our full-time Field Director who is based at our headquarters in Albany, NY. The COI will work in northern California. Most collaboration with the Field Director will be via telephone, instant messenger and e-mail. However, the COI will need to briefly travel to Albany for training. We will work to ensure that this travel does not interrupt the COI's academic schedule. As with all travel, all expenses will be covered by the Secular Student Alliance.

There are many intangible benefits to this position. You will have the option to do at least some of the work in the comfort of your own home. You will have the opportunity to make enormous progress in furthering freethought and humanist goals. You will gain job experience involving more responsibility and independence than most jobs for college students offer. Finally, the COI position is a potential springboard to an ongoing career in the freethought and humanist movement.

Strong candidates will have direct experience with campus activism. Someone with experience leading or helping to lead a student group would be an especially strong candidate. She or he will have strong speaking and writing skills. The candidate will enjoy collaborating with people of different ages, ethnic groups, sexual orientations, and philosophical or political beliefs.

The Secular Student Alliance hopes to select a Campus Organizing Intern in March of 2008 and have him or her start shortly thereafter. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis, so apply soon.

If you would like to apply for this internship, please e-mail Alison Bates at hr@secularstudents.org with your name, address, phone number, best times to call, the text of your resume in the body of your email, and answers to the screening questions below. Please keep the formatting (e.g. bold, italics, off sets) to a minimum. Please do not send attachments. We will send a list of screening questions to help us learn more about you. Be sure to specify that you are interested in the Northern California Campus Organizing Internship (we are also seeking applicants for a Southern California Campus Organizing Internship).

Secular Student Alliance Board Secretary wins American Atheists Scholarship

4-March-2008

Becky Robinson

American Atheists just announced the 2008 scholarship winners!

2008 Founders’ Scholarship ($2500) Ms. Rebecca Robinson

Founders’ Runner-Up ($1000): Ms. Shannon Black

Chinn Scholarship ($1000): Mr. James Kennedy

Dawkins University Tour Schedule

1-March-2008

The Secular Student Alliance is pleased to announce a series of upcoming campus events featuring Richard Dawkins, renowned scientist and public intellectual, discussing The God Delusion and the state of science education. These appearances are hosted and organized by various local and national organizations. All events are free, but tickets and pre-registration are required at many of the venues. Events are being held at the locations below: