A BC student hopes to give a largely silent minority of the college population an outlet for their beliefs. Rob Vella, with his Secular Students Association of Bakersfield College (SSBC), is still undergoing the process to gain charter but hopes to give like-minded peers a voice.
Vella, 19, has been interested in general religious studies for more than two years, and has always been drawn to scientific reasoning. He saw a need for this club at a school with only one club affiliated with religious or philosophical beliefs. He hopes to “create a community for individuals centered around free thought, including atheists, agnostics, skeptics, humanists, rationalists, free thinkers, etc.”
Vella further asserts that this club is by no means exclusive to the non-religious. His belief is that through intellectual debate among the various beliefs, a mutual understanding and respect between them will arise. By definition, secularists don’t have to be atheistic; it is merely a term to describe a person who feels that certain decisions should be handled without religious influence.
His idea has not been without its share of stumbling blocks, including the search for a faculty adviser. Vella has sought out an instructor in philosophy as his adviser, but nobody has agreed yet.
Reggie Williams, assistant professor of philosophy, explained that the club needs to remain professional in its outreach. If the members descended into condescending, abrasive, or antagonistic rhetoric, it would damage his personal and professional reputations for objectivity.
This trait, he said, is vital for his role as a philosophy instructor with a responsibility to teach about various beliefs, to students with various beliefs, with a neutral pathos.
Still, both Williams and Vella believe that the club would be an important addition to the BC roster. The need for diversity is a belief both of them embrace. They have an understanding that, as Williams puts it, “It is important for there to be representation for popular ideas.”
Finally, they agree that even though the club will inevitably incite controversy simply because of its nature, it has the potential to expand the acceptance of secular thought at BC as well as throughout Bakersfield.
How will they do this? Vella wants to shatter the paradigms of selfishness and cynicism that the public associates with secularism. He has ambitious plans for local humanitarian work and public outreach.
The SSBC plans to meet on the first Monday and Tuesday of every month, at 3 p.m. at either Dagny’s Coffeeshop (corner of 20th and Eye) downtown, or classroom CC4, depending on availability. Vella encourages contact and can be reached at (661) 342-2665.