After seeing his group's banner torn down and display vandalized, SFU Skeptics Vice President Jakob Liljenwall wrote this tongue-in-cheek open letter to those responsible:

Dear Vandal(s),

We, the SFU Skeptics, could not help but notice that our banner was once again affected by your handiwork last week. While your first work directly recontextualized the banner itself (from the context of hanging up to the context of being crumpled up on the floor), this latest piece seems to consist of an abstract expressionist addendum to the glass display case in which the banner was kept, obscuring part of the message only as long as it remained mounted. Now that the banner has been removed, your painted addition is more curiosity than commentary.

Obviously, the SFU Skeptics recognize your work for the well-considered art that it is, though others might mistake it for a cowardly and infantile act of aggression against some rather mundane ideas. Ideas are of course the key here, and so we cordially offer you an opportunity to express your own. So far the medium of vandalism appears to have served you well; we are acutely aware that you disagree with the text on our banner. Unfortunately, your own ideas have not been clearly articulated by acts of simple contrarianism, and we believe that an experiment in another medium might rectify this.

Specifically, we would like to invite you to stage a piece of performance art with us. In particular, we had in mind the sort often referred to as a “discussion” and engaged in by those who identify as “adults”. You need bring only yourself and your ideas; the club will provide finger paints so long you express an understanding that they are not to be eaten. We are eagerly looking forward to this collaboration. You may RSVP either by email or prank phone call.

Sincerely,
The SFU Skeptics

Jakob Liljenwall is a founding member and current Vice President of the Simon Fraser University Skeptics in Vancouver BC. He is also a volunteer for CFI, Vancouver.

• Introduction
• Revamped Service: Secular Student Alliance Flyer Exchange
• Clever Response: Open Letter to Vandals
• In Defense of Discrimination: A Criticism of the CLS v. Martinez Ruling
• No Discrimination Allowed: A Campus Organizer's Defense of the CLS v. Martinez Ruling
• Letter from Joe Foley, New Secular Student Alliance Board Chair
• Featured Speaker: Ellery Schempp
• Iacoviello Wins $1,000 American Atheists Scholarship

By Coltara Cody

The word physicist might suggest involvement in a deep and heady field of academia, one that may bring to mind scientists so preoccupied by their work that they rarely venture into the social world.  Or it may conjure up academics who are so brilliant that the average person may have trouble conversing with them. That is, at least, what the popular media would suggest to us.

However, the physicist Ellery Schempp is hardly aloof.  Along with several other Secular Student Alliance members, I had the privilege of sitting down to breakfast with him, an experience well worth getting drenched in the morning rain. Ellery didn't seem to mind our soggy conditions, which cemented my fondness for him, if his speech the evening before hadn't already.

His evening presentation had made clear where his favored topics of discussion resided: He enjoyed conversing about democracy and the separation of church and state.  His knowledge about these topics was backed up by a strong understanding of the U.S. Constitution as a secular document and a better comprehension of the Bible than many Christians I know.

Ellery appeals to many of my aspirations. He is full of passion and reminds me of my grandfather, Frank. He is full of life and respect for others to where age becomes irrelevent. The youthful vigor of his words takes center stage and showcases a determination for secular causes that has belies his decades of experience.

Ellery first influenced separation of church and state activism when he was in high school, where his actions eventually led to the 1963 U.S. Supreme Court case, Abington School District v. Schempp.  In 1956, at Abington High School in Pennsylvania, Ellery protested against school-mandated Bible readings by reading silently from a Qur'an. When he was sent to the principal's office, his father and the ACLU stood beside him in challenging the constitutionality of the school district’s policy.  While it took five years for the case to be decided, it was an 8-1 decision and a victory for the First Amendment.

The stories Ellery shared spoke volumes about secularism's importance in our society.  In his case, standing up for the Constitution led to his principal sending letters of “disrecommendation” about Ellery to colleges, floods of angry letters, and outright ostricism.  As a freethinker, I am grateful to the Schempps for what they went through for the rest of us.  A sixteen-year-old boy in the 1950s was strong enough to stand up and do the right thing.  In the face of adversity, he prevailed and grew up to have a successful career in science and technology—pioneering work on the MRI—and continuing to fight for the rights of nontheists.

A true champion of freedom, Ellery was an inspiration as a confident man brimming with wit and a diversity of knowledge, beyond even the realms of religion, politics, and science.  I learned much in the short span of devouring my strawberry French toast and appreciated how willing he was to converse with us. His respectful and humanistic nature was a reminder of why we support the things we do.

Ellery has received multiple awards from various secular institutions, including the “Champion of the First Amendment Award” from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the “Religious Liberty Award” from Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, and most recently, the “Freethought Backbone Award” from our very own Secular Student Alliance.  He is intensely deserving of all of these accolades.

Ellery now lives in Boston, Massachusetts, and he serves on the advisory board for the Secular Student Alliance, and is a member of the American Humanist Association and the ACLU.  He continues to be a popular speaker and teacher for the secular movement—someone who has been active in the struggle for civil liberties throughout his life.

Coltara Cady is the soon-to-be president of the forming Legion of Logic secular group at Northwest Arkansas Community College. A nefarious pirate and video game addict, she is also a passionate journalism major devoted to knowledge and the promotion of rational thought. Currently she works for the Barnes and Noble College Booksellers on her campus, a fitting job she couldn't love more. Her favorite color remains a mystery.

At the Secular Student Alliance's 2010 Annual Conference in Columbus, Ohio, keynote speaker Greta Christina gave a great talk on lessons the atheist movement can learn from the LGBT movement. Among several fantastic points, she highlighted the need for diversity in our ranks and leadership, and also stressed the need to reach out more to non-white and non-male audiences.

Greta Christina is one of the most widely read and well respected bloggers in the atheist blogosphere. She is the regular atheist correspondent for AlterNet, the online political magazine with over 1,200,000 hits a week, and has been writing about atheism and skepticism for her own cleverly-named Greta Christina's Blog since 2005. She has been a professional writer and editor on atheism, sexuality and sex-positivity, LGBT issues, politics, culture, and other issues since 1989.

The 2010 Annual Conference for the Secular Student Alliance was a huge success! Not only were there an incredible 95 attendees from across the country, but we were blown away by how productive, enthusiastic, and inspiring the secular students are.

The conference had a particularly strong impact on students new to the movement. Coltara Cady wrote about her experience at the conference:

My mind is bursting at the seams! So is my metaphorical heart. Attending the Secular Student Alliance Conference this year was an absolutely mind blowing experience.

I've never really attended any sort of serious secular gathering before and as far as getting together with fellow skeptics goes, my only other ventures have been a meeting of the Fayetteville Freethinkers on the same day as the NWA Pride Parade. That was another fantastic heartfelt experience that did a lot for my confidence and determination, but was not nearly on the same level. It can't compare in what it did for my growth as a person in such a short amount of time. I am filled with more appreciation, passion, love, excitement, determination, and pride than I think I have ever felt before. I feel like I could take on the world. ...read more

Trevor Boeckmann of UNIFI - winners of Affiliate of the Year - wrote a post describing his experience, concluding by saying "If you ever have an opportunity to make it to an SSA Conference, don't miss your chance."

Board member Hemant Mehta posted a writeup of his experience and highlights of the weekend on his blog, Friendly Atheist.

For more pictures, visit our Facebook page.

Freethought Backbone Award – Ellery Schempp, Ph.D.

At each annual conference of the Secular Student Alliance, the SSA present the Freethought Backbone Award to an individual within the freethought movement who is a guide and inspiration for secular students and student groups. This person has demonstrated a commitment to the secular values of scientific and critical inquiry, democracy, secularism, and human-based ethics. This year’s Freethought Backbone Award will be Presented to Ellery Schempp, Ph.D.

Keynote Address - Greta Christina: What Atheists Can Learn from the LGBT Movement

What can the atheist movement learn from the LGBT movement? The atheist movement is already modeling itself on the LGBT movement in many ways: most obviously with its focus on coming out of the closet. What else can the Atheist movement learn from the LGBT movement both from its successes and its failures? For those who have heard Greta Christina speak at SSA conferences in the past: this is a longer, significantly more fleshed-out version of the talk she gave at both Stanford and Harvard. In this talk, Greta discusses coming out; making atheism a safe place to come out into; defusing the ongoing battles between the firebrands and the diplomats in our movement; avoiding squabbles about language and self-definition; making our movement more diverse; preparing for success and the mainstreaming that will almost certainly accompany it; and other lessons that can be learned from the history of the LGBT movement.