CFI - On Campus: The Course of Reason

Press Background

Media Professionals: email a CFI - On Campus Coordinator or call: 1-800-664-6198 ext 314.

In 1996, the Council for Secular Humanism, North America's leading organization for ethical, non-religious people, brought seven college students to its headquarters at the Center for Inquiry-International in Amherst, New York. These seven students wanted to establish a network of non-believers and critical rationalists on university and college campuses across North America. They were concerned by the rising tide of religious-political extremism and anti-scientific outlooks among members of their generation, as well as the lack of a strong and supportive community for young freethinkers. Some came from families or communities that were openly hostile towards religious unbelievers.

The students agreed that there were dangers inherent in the present religious assaults on academic freedom, civil liberties and scientific literacy in the United States. They outlined their concerns in a Declaration of Necessity, which they then distributed via the Internet. The results were astounding. Within a year, seven students' dream had become a successful reality: forty campus groups were soon established or affiliated with what was then known as the Campus Freethought Alliance. The founding students set a goal of adding one hundred new student groups to CFA during their second year.

Since then, the movement has continued to grow, and has received strong support from the Council for Secular Humanism and other programs of the Center for Inquiry. In 2004, CFA changed its name to the Center for Inquiry On Campus to better reflect its commitment to the ideals put forth by the Center for Inquiry. CFI - On Campus now has three full-time coordinators at its international headquarters at the Center for Inquiry. In addition, CFI - On Campus is run by a ten-member Executive Council of student volunteers, who are supported by scores of student volunteers involved in various CFI - On Campus programs, campaigns and development activities.

The Center for Inquiry sponsors CFI - On Campus as its college outreach program. The Center for Inquiry is the home of Skeptical Inquirer, Free Inquiry, and Philo, among numerous other publications. It is an anchor point of scores of local and regional skeptic and humanist groups across the United States and throughout the world. From CFI, scientists, philosophers, media professionals and members of the public obtain objective information about fringe science, paranormal, supernatural and religious claims.

With branches in Hollywood, New York City, and Tampa, and in France, Germany, Russia, and Peru, the Center for Inquiry is headquartered in fast-growing Amherst, New York, adjacent to the State University of New York at Buffalo. The Center for Inquiry: a resource for the local and academic communities and a hub for critical rationalism worldwide.

Key Issues Important to CFI - On Campus:

- The Secular Roots of the American Founding
- Free Speech on Campus
- Individual Liberty, Freedom of Conscience
- Relativism and Society
- Science and its Critics
- Evolution versus Intelligent Design
- Multiculturalism, America Religious Pluralism
- Religion and the "Social Order"
- Secular versus Religious Ethics
- Religious Threats to Freedom
- The Role of the University in a Free Society
- The Role of Religion in a Secular Democracy