Campus Freethought Alliance records

The collection concerns the formation and purpose of the Campus Freethought Alliance at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in the winter and spring of 2001. According to its Statement of Purpose, the CFA was a group "dedicated to the promotion and enhancement of freethought, skepticism, secularism, non-theisim, and humanism, and to the international consolidation of campus resources for the end." 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 Transnational in Amherst, New York. These seven students wanted to establish a network of non-believers and critical rationalists on university and college campuses around the world. 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 continued to grow, and received strong support from 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.