I’m going to be attending Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario in September. I’m curious if there are any secular groups that anyone knows about on campus. If not, what would be the best way to go about starting one? I was looking at a website for the Student Secular Alliance, at least I think that’s what it was called. They said they would supply a kind of guide in starting a group. I didn’t see any groups listed in Canada, so wondering if that just an American organization. If it is, what would be the equivalent Canadian organization. Does CFI have a group at Lakehead, or resources and tips on starting one if there isn’t one? Just curious, hoping to be able to get involved in some kind of secular organization when I get back in Canada. That and ball hockey.

Hi Trevor,

I live in Thunder Bay while I am not away at school, and I can tell you there aren’t any secular groups that I am aware of in Thunder Bay, nevermind at Lakehead. Here is a list of all currently registered groups at Lakehead: http://www.lusu.ca/thunderbay/club-list/
I took a look through again to be sure, but there doesn’t appear to be a secular club. There is of course a Lakehead University Christian Fellowship club available, should you so choose.

And to answer your question, CFI is definitely not just an American organization. I am a member of CFI Canada - which is headquartered in Toronto - but has many branches nationwide (none in TBay though, sadly): http://www.cficanada.ca/about

If you would like to start a CFI affiliated club at Lakehead, CFI can help answer some questions on how to get started here: http://www.centerforinquiry.net/oncampus/faq/
If you don’t want it to be CFI affiliated, that FAQ is useful on how to start a college club anyway. Either way, you will need to follow Lakehead’s rules on creating a club:
http://lusu.ca/thunderbay/pdfs/ThunderBayClubHandbook.pdf

Thunder Bay is a bit remote (in location and otherwise), and this is one of the obvious examples of it. Even away at school in Toronto there is no secular club at my college. I’ve been considering starting one, but I am wondering if it would be worth it with CFI headquarters being (technically, anyway) in the same city.

Anyway, good luck with starting your club if you choose to pursue it. I would definitely encourage it, there is a huge lack of secular associations in Thunder Bay. It’s too bad it’s closed to just students, I know several people who would be interested in joining (including myself).

Hope this was useful to you!

Liz

Hi Liz,

Thanks for the reply and information. It could come in handy if I do decided to pursue starting a club. The fact it is closed to only students hadn’t really dawned on me, I’ll have to think on that. There could be benefits to starting a club in the city rather than at the university. I’d have to think on costs, benefits of each.

Cheers,

Trevor