The Auburn Atheist and Agnostic Asociation has been on campus for several years, but has recently seen an increase in popularity.
"We would like the student body to perceive us as they perceive everyone else," said Nall, sophomore in communication. "We don't really see any reason for anyone in the atheist group or the agnostic group to be treated differently from anyone else on the campus."
Meeting every Thursday in Room 2222 of the Student Center from 6-8 p.m., Nall said a typical meeting starts with news from the atheist and agnostic community followed by planned discussion.
"Recently we've had discussions about the Milgram experiment and different types of psychology and how religion is similar to those," Nall said. "Every now and again we have someone from one of the Christian groups come in and talk to us. And our meetings are open to everyone; anyone who wants to can come and if they want to engage us in debate. We're completely open to that."
The Milgram experiments were conducted by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram in 1961 with the premise to establish whether people would obey authority figures even when the orders given were morally wrong.
Treasurer Poojit Radikumar, senior in supply chain management, said AAA is still spreading the group's awareness on campus through events and having informational tables.
"We've done an 'Ask an Atheist' table in the Student Center, and that's become really popular," Radikumar said. "The main thing is promoting our group and breaking any negative stereotypes about our group. People come up asking a wide variety of questions. It's a friendly way of getting our name out on campus."
Nall said he is pleased with the association's efforts.
"The group has been around for a few years at this point," Nall said. "There's not many people on campus that even thought that this would be an active type of discussion or type of group in this part of the world, in this part of the U.S. specifically."
Despite having nearly 200 registered members and close to 30 active members, Radikumar believes Auburn's perception of the group is not what it should be.
"This group was created so free-thinkers and nonreligious could come together with a goal of spreading awareness and acceptance of atheism within the Auburn community," Radikumar said. "I feel like we're distrusted in Auburn; we're not respected for our views. That's something we want to change, and when people automatically hear the word 'atheist' they kind of count you out of the topic of the discussion."
Rebecca Godwin, lab technician in biological sciences, said she has seen a positive response to the group.
"I've been really impressed with how well its been perceived and the participation that we've gotten," Godwin said. "The attendance has been very good, more so than I would have expected. I haven't really had anybody react negatively. Mostly it's just curiosity."
According to its website, AAA is also part of the Secular Student Alliance, whose goal is to organize, unite, educate and serve students and student communities that promote the ideals of scientific and critical inquiry, democracy, secularism and human-based ethics.
The group is holding an event titled "What the atheist movement can learn from the LGBT movement" Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Ballroom A of the Student Center. Active atheist and LGBT spokeswoman Greta Christina will be speaking, as well as holding informal discussions afterward.
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