Secular Student Alliance: Atheists, Humanists, Agnostics & Others - For Students

Atheist Alliance International 2008 Conference Grant Application

8-August-2008

"Unsinkable Atheism," the 14th Annual Atheist Alliance International (AAI) Convention, will be held the weekend of September 25-28, 2008 on the beautiful and historic Queen Mary, which is permanently docked in Long Beach, California.

Using the generous contributions of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, we have established a grant fund to help offset the travel costs incurred by students to attend the conference. We are making $100 and $200 travel grants available to interested students (apply now). The convention cost of $70 for students includes a souvenir speakers booklet, Friday-night hors d'oeuvres and a Freethought Concert, admission to exhibition hall, Saturday morning workshops, Saturday afternoon plenary, Saturday Happy Hour with hors d'oeuvres and music, Saturday night plenary with a musical presentation, Sunday Continental Breakfast, Sunday plenary, and Closing Ceremony. You can register online.

Freethought Fun for the Whole Family

5-August-2008

Looking for some freethought family fun this weekend?

On August 8-10th bring the kids to Hell, Michigan for the Camp Quest Michigan Family Campout. This weekend campout is open to families with children, as well as past, present, and future Camp Quest volunteer counselors. Enjoy swimming, horseback riding, and campfires with your fellow atheists, humanists, skeptics, and freethinkers of all stripes and ages.

From the William and Mary Freethinker Alliance: The Atheist's Log

29-July-2008

Andon of the William and Mary Freethinker Alliance passes this along:

I have recently started a blog that I believe secular students might be interested in:
http://theatheistslog.blogspot.com/

The blog is a place to share stories about daily life as an Atheist in a world full of superstition. We're hoping to get as many stories from as many varied sources as we can.

The stories don't have to be formally written, and in fact it's better if they're not. Remember, this isn't homework, this is fun! We're looking for stories of how you came to feel the way you do about religion and morality, funny stories about interactions with religious people, or anything else that comes to mind. They can even be philosophical rants! If you don't want to write it down, we can even set up a call so you can just tell me the story and let me write it down. My email address is aozeba@gmail.com

Non-communion-wafer-eating Florida Student to be on Freethought Radio

17-July-2008

Webster Cook, a 19-year-old junior at Central Florida University (Orlando) who has recently been in the news for leaving a Catholic Mass with a sacred Communion wafer uneaten, will be on Freethought Radio this Saturday (7/19/08). Catholics have accused him of committing a "hate crime" for not eating the communion wafer during the ceremony! Cook sits on the CFU student senate and his fellow student senators at CFU have begun impeachment proceedings over the matter.

Graphic Design Internship with the Secular Coalition for America

13-July-2008

Do you believe in protecting and strengthening the secular character of our government?

Are you adept at using Photoshop and Flash to design and create images?

Are you a creative, artistic person who works well independently?

If you answered yes, then the Secular Coalition for America has an internship that may be right for you!

The Secular Student Alliance Launches The Exchange

10-July-2008

The Secular Student Alliance is proud to announce the launch of the new and improved Flyer Exchange, a library of flyers used by campus groups around the country. The SSA has always felt that the most valuable resource within the student movement is the ingenuity and creativity of its grassroots activists. Drawing on this, the SSA is dedicated to creating an online library filled with flyers and posters that student freethought groups across the country have successfully utilized on their campuses.

You can view the current collection of flyers at the Exchange here. The SSA sees the Exchange as a clearinghouse for flyer designs that have been tried and tested on campuses across the country. However, we hope you will not only gain ideas from the posters in the gallery, but also offer your posters to be posted so that all of the other affiliates can benefit from your ideas too! This resource allows student groups to post their own designs, as well as utilize or modify what others have designed. The Exchange will help campus groups flourish by allowing group leaders to build on each other's successes.

Atheists to the Rescue: Changing Misconceptions and Rebuilding after Katrina

12-June-2008

University of Illinois Campus Crusade for Christ and Atheists, Agnostics, and Freethinkers

Spring Break Trip 2008
(Learn how to organize your own service trip with our service trip activity packet.)

“Being around a group of people of antithetical beliefs while working toward a common goal was

both rewarding and fun: rewarding because we were able to put our differences aside to help

the cause and fun because there was never a dull moment in conversations."

-Peter Ho, member of AA&F

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!

Best Awards 2008 Winners

29-May-2008

Each year at our annual conference the SSA gives 'Best Awards' to our outstanding affiliate groups for the following achievements:
Best Service Project, Best Media Appearance, Best New Affiliate, Best Website, and Best Overall Affiliate.

The award comes with a cash prize of $300, and $500 for the winner of Best Overall Affiliate.

This years winners are as follows:
Best Service Project-University of Illinois Champaign Urbana -Atheists, Agnostics, and Freethinkers. Their project was to send 11 members of their group along with 19 members of the schools Campus Crusade For Christ group to New Orleans to carry out relief work. Their time in New Orleans was primarily dedicated to gutting damaged houses and building new ones. This included work such as putting up siding, painting exteriors & interiors, laying down flooring, erecting fences, running electrical wiring, installing sheetrock, landscaping, and finally removing moldy drywall and debris.

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).

Internship Opportunity with the Society for Humanistic Judaism

18-May-2008

Summer Intern for University Programs

The Society for Humanistic Judaism is looking for a summer intern to fill a project-based contract position.

The project entails compiling a manual for university Humanistic havurot programs explaining Humanistic Judaism and including at minimum the following components:

Help sustain the explosive growth of the secular student movement - and get matching funds until April 11th

4-April-2008

Mobilizing Students for a New Enlightenment
... thanks to you

Support the SSA

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U.S. Mail donation form (.pdf)

Monthly recurring donations

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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.

Apr. 3, 2008

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.

This phenomenal growth is great news for the SSA – it means we’re reaching previously unimagined heights in our mission to organize, unite, educate, and serve students and student communities that promote the ideals of scientific and critical inquiry, democracy, secularism, and human based ethics. But as chair of the board, I realize it also represents a daily challenge for our tiny staff as they struggle to meet the needs of a much larger than expected crop of freethinking young adults preparing to move into leadership roles in business, government, education, and culture.

The SSA must raise $30,000 by June 1st to keep this momentum going. And we have a $4,000 head start toward our goal, thanks to the generosity of two donors. But there is another exciting development, made possible by a third generous supporter.

Every donation that reaches the SSA by April 11th will be matched dollar for dollar, up to $3,000. Your gift can go twice as far, just by giving it now.

The $100 that would have covered speaker expenses for one campus group can now be leveraged for a second speaker on a second campus. The $500 that would have funded a regional activist training session for campus leaders can now be cloned in another region of the country.

The matching funds for a $1,250 donation will allow us to hire an intern for an entire summer. (You should see the amazing resumes we've been receiving.) But every gift, large or small, is very noticed, very appreciated, and very carefully spent at the SSA. If you can't support us at one of these levels, please consider an amount that's comfortable for you. Your donation will be precious to us no matter what its size.

Every bit of our work at the SSA is funded by atheists, agnostics, humanists, and other freethinkers who care about secular youth. We are an independent, democratic organization which would not exist except for the generosity and loyalty of our many friends in the freethought movement. Please click one of the donation options in the sidebar by April 11th to take advantage of the matching funds. Thousands of bright, young freethinkers are counting on your support to bring about a more rational future guided by secular values.

With thanks,
Hemant Mehta, Chair
Secular Student Alliance
www.secularstudents.org

P.S. I almost forgot to mention the vital role played by SSA affiliate groups on college campuses. They provide a welcoming and stimulating community for students without supernatural beliefs, some of whom are open about their worldview for the first time in their lives. But there is still so much progress to be made! Please click one of the donation options in the sidebar so we can do more to bring this experience to every freethinking student.

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.

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.