Humanist Students is the national

umbrella organisation An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and ofte ...

for

free-thinking Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an epistemological viewpoint which holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and that beliefs should instead be reached by other metho ...

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...

and

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

student societies A student society, student association, university society, student club, university club, or student organization is a society or an organization, operated by students at a university or a college institution, whose membership typically consists ...

in the United Kingdom. Its aim is to provide a national voice for non-religious student societies in the UK and help coordinate national activities. The group is a membership body composed of student societies in

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

institutes across the UK. In 2012, it became the student section of the

Humanists UK Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious be ...

(then known as the British Humanist Association), the UK charity which promotes

Humanism Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...

and

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on Secularity, secular, Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the Separation of church and state, separation of relig ...

in Britain. Until 2017, it was known as the National Federation of Atheist, Humanist, and Secular Students, and later simply Atheist, Humanist, and Secular Students (AHS). In 2017, member societies voted to rename the AHS 'Humanist Students', as well as introducing new structural changes, such as the

direct election Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they desire to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are cho ...

of the President of Humanist Students by the members of individual societies each year. Through Humanists UK, the organisation is represented internationally as part of

Young Humanists International Young Humanists International, known as the International Humanist and Ethical Youth Organisation or IHEYO from 2002–2019, is the youth wing of Humanists International (known as the International Humanist and Ethical Union from 1952–2019), ...

, the

youth wing A youth wing is a subsidiary, autonomous, or independently allied front of a larger organization (usually a political party but occasionally another type of organization) that is formed in order to rally support for that organization from members ...

Humanists International Humanists International (known as the International Humanist and Ethical Union, or IHEU, from 1952–2019) is an international non-governmental organisation championing secularism and human rights, motivated by secular humanist values. Found ...

Aims and objectives

As 'The AHS', Humanist Students was set up to support both established and newly forming atheist, humanist and secular student groups and give voice which could be heard nationally. It hoped to achieve this by providing a network, resources and a joint platform for these societies through which they could make their needs and views known on both a national and international level.

Organisational structure

The AHS is run by a committee composed of representatives from each society, namely the president and an elected representative. From the committee the executive, composed of a president, secretary, membership officer, and treasurer, are then elected to form the core leadership body of the organisation. There is also a sovereign decision-making body within the AHS called the "Caucus". This consists of two representatives from each member society, the executive and the board. They are responsible for electing the executive to manage the organisation on their behalf, determining and directing major policy choices and ratifying applications for membership. It is one of several sections of Humanists UK, alongside others such as Young Humanists (for 18-35s),

LGBT Humanists UK LGBT Humanists UK, founded in 1979, is a special interest section of Humanists UK which campaigns for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality and human rights in the United Kingdom. It also organises social events for LGBT humanist ...

(an LGBT section), and

Defence Humanists Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

(for military personnel).

Notes

External links

*{{official website, https://humanists.uk/students/ Student organisations in the United Kingdom Atheism in the United Kingdom Humanist associations Secularism in the United Kingdom 2008 establishments in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 2008 Secular humanism

Aims and objectives

Organisational structure

See also

Notes

External links