| Secular Student Alliance | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | SSA |
| Formation | May 2000 |
| Type | non-profit |
| Legal status | foundation |
| Purpose/focus | secularism, atheism |
| Headquarters | Columbus, Ohio |
| Region served | United States |
| Official languages | English |
| Key people | August E. Brunsman IV, Executive Director Joe Foley, Chairman of the Board of Directors |
| Website | http://www.secularstudents.org/ |
The Secular Student Alliance (SSA), founded in May 2000, is an independent, democratically structured organization in the U.S. that aims to serve the needs of freethinking high school and college students. The Secular Student Alliance is based in Columbus, Ohio. The SSA was formed "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".[1]
The Secular Student Alliance is an educational nonprofit whose purpose is to educate high school and college students about the value of scientific reason and the intellectual basis of secularism in its atheistic and humanistic manifestations. The SSA also offers these students and their organizations a variety of resources, including but not limited to leadership training and support, guest speakers, discounted literature and conference tickets, and thought provoking online articles and opinions.
As of February 2011, the SSA has over 250 affiliates in North America and abroad, including groups in Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia.[2]
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The Secular Student Alliance (SSA) has experienced increasing membership growth since its founding. The number of SSA community college and university campus affiliates has expanded considerably in recent years:[3][4]
On August 7, 2009, the SSA organized a trip to the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky. 304 students, atheists, and scientists attended, in order to familiarize themselves with the museum.[1] One notable name in attendance was PZ Myers, who also came to experience the museum firsthand.[5]
The Secular Student Alliance holds an annual conference.
| Year | Theme | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Minneapolis, MN | |
| 2001 | Kicking Ass for the New Enlightenment | Columbus, OH |
| 2002 | Education Against Indoctrination | Chicago, IL |
| 2004 | Washington, DC | |
| 2005 | Connecting the Secular Movement with Other Communities | Columbus, OH |
| 2006 | We're Not in Kansas Anymore | Kansas City, MO |
| 2007 | Harvard Humanist Chaplaincy 30th Anniversary Gala/Symposium | Cambridge, MA |
| 2008 | World Humanist Congress | Washington, DC |
| 2009 | Columbus, OH | |
| 2010 | Columbus. OH |
In July 2005, the SSA created an online newsletter called the eMpirical. It currently has over 16,000 subscribers.
The SSA currently has 8 paid staff [1]:
The SSA also takes on paid and unpaid interns each quarter of the year. Previous interns have included:
As of July 2011, the SSA has twelve board members.