CFI Student Leadership Conference 2008 The Center for Inquiry is pleased to invite all CFI campus group leaders to our 2008 Student Leadership Conference, to be held July 18-20 at the Center for Inquiry Transnational in Amherst, NY.  The conference will feature special keynote addresses by Paul Kurtz, Robert Price, high school activist Matthew LaClair, and others. Paul Kurtz with the attendees of the CFI campus and community leadership conference 2007 The conference marks the 12th anniversary of our campus outreach program and will coincide with the opening weekend of the CFI Institute Summer Session and our annual CFI Community Leaders training weekend.  The event brings together student and community activists from around North America for a blowout weekend of workshops, networking, lectures, and top-notch entertainment featuring some of the leading minds in the humanist and skeptic movements.  You will not be disappointed! We encourage every campus group to send at least one representative (if not more!) and we are keeping the costs down to make sure this is possible.  Registration, room, and board for the entire three-day event cost only $35 for interested students.  A limited number of travel and registration grants are available, based on need, to make sure every group can send a representative even if it lacks the resources to do so.  The registration form and grant application can be found here. So, what are you waiting for? Send in your registration today, or email Debbie Goddard at dgoddard@centerforinquiry.net for more information. High School Freethought by Lucia Guatney, Cherry Creek High School If you saw things the way I do, you'd think that the title of this article was an oxymoron.  High school, from my personal experience at least, is rampant with anti-intellectualism and general ignorance (lamentable considering that it's supposed to be a place where ignorance is eliminated).  It seems that only a minuscule minority of students cares about anything other than which friend is dating which other friend, which band just came out with a new album, or anything outside of their social lives. That's why it seemed so important to me to start a freethought group.  Not just because there was a lack of skepticism (though there are quite a lot of creationists), but also to get students to start thinking and caring about the world around them. I went to my first CFI conference (The Secular Society and Its Enemies) last November in the splendid city of New York.  I hadn't a clue that meeting fellow student freethinkers could be so much fun.  For the first time since I'd entered high school, I was in an oasis of thought with intelligent discussions taking place all around me.  Not only were there speakers with fascinating subjects, but there was also the opportunity to talk to fellow student freethinkers and other attendees.  Later that evening, I was in shock to find myself having dinner right across from Richard Dawkins in the Beekman Pub, and conversing about campus activities with all the other students at the conference. Lucia (standing, right) receives an ovation at the Beekman Pub About a week after the conference, I e-mailed Richard Dawkins because I felt the need to thank him not only for dining with us but for his books which had helped me appreciate science ("appreciate" being an understatement; more like "love passionately to death") so much.  He wrote back telling me that he had remembered who I was, and not only that...he told me that he'd been "bowled over" when I told him that I was fourteen at the time.  I looked up the words in the dictionary—they mean "highly impressed".  Imagine how I reacted. If you imagined me falling out of my chair and giggling madly, you imagined correctly. As proud as I was to have bowled over my own personal hero, I was a bit mystified.  What had I done that impressed him so much in those five minutes I'd spent talking (rather incoherently I think) about my attempts at starting a freethought group? And then I began to remember that the vast majority of high school students didn't care or think about the things that freethinkers tend to value so much.  That's when my purpose for starting a freethought group became clear.  What I intend to do is make it into something like an everlasting CFI conference or Beekman Pub, where refreshing intellectual conversations occur. It hasn't been easy. Though I know that there exists a substantial population of students interested in freethought, my group has yet to gain official recognition because I've had many problems finding a faculty sponsor.  But, it's a big school.  I reckon that persistence will eventually find me one.  And then, I can get down to business making my freethought oasis. Lucia Guatney is a freshman at Cherry Creek High School in Greenwood Village, CO. She also runs the blog Splendid Elles. Dawkins University Tour a Success! by Debbie Goddard, Field Organizer One of the most gratifying things the CFI Outreach Department worked on this semester was the Richard Dawkins "The God Delusion" University Tour.  Last month, the many hours of contacting, organizing, mailing, promoting, researching, calling, and coordinating with CFI-affiliated student groups finally culminated in two weeks of successful events involving seven different universities!  These appearances involved various national organizations, including the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, and a number of university programs. The first stop on the tour was Arizona State University on March 6th, where Professor Dawkins gave a presentation on "The God Delusion" at an event organized by the Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science.  The free tickets for the 3,000-seat auditorium ran out weeks before the event—there were even tickets being sold on Craig's List!  Members of the new CFI student group Freethinkers of Arizona State University got involved by handing out flyers and helping manage the book-signing queue. Next, Dawkins went to the San Francisco Bay Area for events at UC-Berkeley and Stanford University on March 8th and 9th.  Group leader Yunyun Liu and other student volunteers from Students for a Non-religious Ethos (SANE) organized and managed a spectacular event at Berkeley.  CFI San Francisco was also on hand to help with tabling in the lobby, book sales, and crowd management.  And what a crowd!  There was no trouble filling the 700-seat auditorium.  Unfortunately, some people had to be turned away, but many of them stayed to start the book-signing queue. SANE volunteers with signed books after the event The event at Stanford the next day took in an audience of 1700.  Hosted by Stanford's Aurora Forum, the program featured a conversation between Dawkins and physicist Lawrence Krauss titled "Against Ignorance: Science Education in the 21st Century."  CFI San Francisco tabled at this event as well, in conjunction with the newly-revitalized student group Rational Thought at Stanford (RATS). On Tuesday, March 11th, Dawkins was in Wisconsin to give a presentation on "The God Delusion" to over 1300 people at UW-Madison, hosted by the Distinguished Lecture Series.  The long-standing student group Atheists, Humanists, and Agnostics at UW-Madison tabled in the lobby at that event. Then Dawkins went to New York City for a presentation at the New York Society for Ethical Culture on March 15th.  Cosponsors for the event included CFI New York City, Columbia Atheists and Agnostics, and Atheists, Agnostics, and Freethinkers at NYU.  Over 800 people packed the hall, while dozens were turned away at the door. The final stop on the University Tour was the University of Texas - Austin on March 19th.  CFI field organizer Lauren Becker and CFI Austin director Jenni Acosta worked closely with Sandra Sythe and the Atheist Longhorns to arrange the event at UT's famous Hogg Auditorium.  The line began forming 5 hours before the event and eventually 1200 people filled the Hogg, some from as far away as Oklahoma.  Hundreds more had to be turned away.   Dawkins presents at the Hogg Auditorium   |   Atheist Longhorns at the t-shirt table CFI is very grateful to the leaders of the various CFI student groups who co-sponsored these events, as well as to the remarkable generosity of Richard Dawkins and the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, for making these events possible. Dawkins University Tour T-shirts Available Couldn't make the tour but still want the t-shirt?  Here's your chance!  These all-cotton pre-shrunk American Apparel t-shirts carry the red Out logo and the Out Campaign website on the front and a list of the universities that took part in the tour on the back. Color: Slate Gray Sizes: M, L, XL Cost: $9.00 There are three ways to place an order: Call (716) 636-4869 ext. 200 to place your order by credit card Fax your order with credit card information, quantity and sizes, and shipping address to (716) 636-1733 Mail a check in with the relevant information to: Center for Inquiry, 3965 Rensch Road, Amherst, NY 14228 Get yours today! Internships Available at CFI Last summer several interns supported CFI staff at various Centers for Inquiry throughout North America.  Patrick Kuhl, recent graduate and founder of Students for Freethought at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, sacrificed sleep and sanity to help make the Convocation of Students and Community Leaders at CFI Transnational a success; Mark Smith, rising sophomore at Arizona State University, helped CFI NYC to find new office space and plan a series of student organizing meetings at Manhattan-area colleges; Michelle Abrego of the University of Florida assisted with statewide marketing and publicity at CFI Tampa; John Kotcher, a graduate student at American University, attended congressional briefings and learned much about the legislative process while at the Office of Public Policy at CFI DC; and interns at CFI West regularly assist the Steve Allen Theatre. CFI is looking for student interns to work at these and other Centers across North America.  If you are interested in applying for an internship, please contact D.J. Grothe at djgrothe@centerforinquiry.net.  Include a brief statement of your academic and other interests, your activities with the skeptic or humanist movements, and why interning at CFI is something you want to do. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to the overall growth of the secular community and to strengthen your relationship with CFI.  We hope you will consider joining us this summer.