The history of the Sagan Society according to the faculty advisors and founders:

Chris Hoofnagle

1. How did you first envision the Sagan Society? I envisioned the Sagan Society as a group that would attract students and faculty who are lifetime learners. A group that would attract people who wanted to learn about interesting issues from a humanistic standpoint independent of class requirements, homework, etc.

2. What motivated you to get involved with the group? The climate of UGA could be called anti-intellectual. I wanted to develop an alternative to sit-coms and sports that would appeal to students interested in learning and faculty interested in fostering students.

3. What did you contribute to the organization in its early days? Organized early meetings, registered group and wrote constitution.

4. How do you see the organization evolving? First it came out of the water with proto-legs... No, really. Time has had the effect of normalizing and stabilizing the group. We no longer are searching for outrageous topics. Instead, we have a smaller base of members who are interested in a number of issues, and who are willing to take time out of their day to learn about those issues.

Barry Palevitz

It started after the Walter Bradley 'intelligent design' lecture we both happened to attend a few years ago. Chris asked a question, and I was so annoyed with Bradley's answer that I got up and challenged him. Afterwards, Chris approached me and we talked, and mused about the need for this kind of group. Since I had been thinking about rationalism for some time, along with Francis, I continued to think about a group, and asked Francis as well. Chris and I eventually decided to talk about it at JJs, and I invited Francis and Will Layng as well. Will was in my botany class. Chris thought Byron would be a good person to attend too. So we met and decided to call a general meeting to see if there was interest. There was, and it took off from there. Eventually we got J-P and Claiborne involved too.

Claiborne Glover

With regard to the history of TSS - the best people to talk to are Barry and Chris and probably also Francis. I think it was one or all of them who had the idea. The first glimmerings that I can recall are :On my way home one afternoon, I heard Barry on WUGA giving the equivalent of a eulogy on Carl Sagan. This may have been shortly after Sagan died, but I don't know. A long time later, I ran into Barry, who asked if I was going to be in town for Behe's talk. I hadn't heard of Behe's talk, but Barry filled me in. He said that he was unfortunately going to be out of town and was looking for people to go to the seminar to "keep 'em honest" I believe was his phrase. I told him I would be happy to go. In preparation for Behe's talk, I checked his book out of the library and read it. A few days before the seminar, I got a call from Chris, whom I didn't know, asking if I would be willing to be interviewed for an editorial he wanted to publish in the Red Black about Behe's seminar. I was happy to do that, and that's the first time I met Chris. Chris and Francis and I attended Behe's lecture in Hodgson hall (2/26/98), and I believe at least Chris asked some questions from the floor afterwards. That was the first time I met Francis.Somewhere in there, Barry mentioned to me that he and Francis and Chris wanted to start a society for rational thought, and that they wanted to call it The Sagan Society. I told him I thought this was just the best idea, and that I would love to participate. The morning of the inaugural meeting of TSS, Barry called and asked if I would be willing to give a lecture in response to Behe's ideas at the next TSS meeting. With some trepidation, I told him I would. Barry and Francis gave wonderful talks at the first meeting (4/17/98), Francis' being completely extemporaneous. At that point, TSS had Chris as president and Barry and Francis as co-advisors. I think volunteers and nominees for various TSS positions were solicited at the first meeting and voted on later by email. I gave my TSS-sponsored lecture on Behe's book/talk on 5/27/98 at 8:00 PM in C127 Life Sciences. Aside from the organizational meeting, I think this was our only official meeting that first spring. JP and I were added as two additional faculty advisors for TSS the next fall, sometime in September I think. I am sure that Chris, Barry, and/or Francis can give you the real scoop on whose idea it was, what led them to do it, whether the Behe lecture was a precipitating influence, etc. I would be interested to know myself, since I've never asked them!

Will Layng

I'll tell you my entire role, which hasn't been much. I took introductory Botany from Barry in Fall, 1998. It was the standard large lecture format, but about 15 or so were enrolled to take the class for Honor's credit, including myself. Basically, we'd meet for an hour each week and discuss chapters of The Private Life of Plants by David Attenborough, a popular book (also a TV series) about plants with lots of amazing pictures. We would basically tear it apart, saying what we liked and what we disliked. Since the book was written to bring plant science and the beauty and vastness of plant diversity to a popular audience, we critiqued it as such. We got into some fascinating discussions on how we perceive the natural world, how we perceive science and how its portrayed, religion and science, etc. After the class was over, Barry asked me if I'd be interested in helping to create a rationalist society at UGA devoted to discussion of pressing issues related to science. I've always been fascinated by both the benefits and dangers of scientific research, separation of church and state, and debate and discussion, so I was intrigued by the idea. I looked at it almost like a Bible study group except about science! Barry, Francis Assaf, Chris Hoofnagle, and I met at Jittery Joes to discuss further plans. I was surprised at the idea of calling it the Sagan Society, I always thought it would be the Rationalist Society. I didn't know that much about Carl Sagan, but it sounded cool to me. I figured the organization would be devoted to discussions on science and science in a sociological sense, as well as challenging commonly held assumptions about science. I anticipated lots of good presentations and discussions similar to what we talked about in class. I'm glad it has developed so well with good student support and leadership and faculty guidance. Somehow I fell out of the loop, though, and it turned out that the first Sagan meetings happened at the same time as the SEA meetings, which I'm pretty involved in. I've enjoyed what little SEA and I have done with Sagan, and hope to keep those avenues open in the future. I guess that was pretty long, but I ramble when I talk about the old days!