Student Freethinkers Hold Conference

The following article is from the Secular Humanist Bulletin, Volume 16, Number 3.

The June 21-25 conference of the Campus Freethought Alliance (CFA) and the Young Freethinkers Alliance (YFA) was the largest gathering of student freethinkers ever held, with 50 students in attendance. Students from as far away as British Columbia and Alabama converged on the Center for Inquiry International to meet one another, listen to speakers, and elect a new Executive Council.

The conference included presentations by students and other freethought leaders, field trips, and a wide range of practical workshops on campus activism. During the conference, students elected new CFA and YFA leaders and planned activities for the 2000-2001 academic year.

Micah White, who gained national exposure for his efforts to form an atheist club at his high school and who will be starting at Swarthmore College in the fall, was elected CFA president. The new CFA vice president, Erin Cowan of the University of Victoria and Camuson College, British Columbia, plans to make expansion of the CFA in Canada a high priority. New YFA president Scott Lenfert, a student at Jeffersonville High School, Missouri, is currently battling with his school's administration to form a freethinkers club.

There were also opportunities for conference-goers to meet in less formal situations including a barbecue, a game of Skeptical Jeopardy (won by outgoing CFA President Dan Farkas and Lisa Grant of Columbus State University, Georgia), and a Saturday shindig. After a Sunday afternoon field trip to Niagara Falls, students left refreshed and enthusiastic about the campus freethought movement, ready to bring that enthusiasm back to their home schools and colleges.

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