For Immediate Release
Contact:
Charles Dyke, Delaware Coalition of Reason Coordinator, delawarereason@gmail.com
Merrill Miller, American Humanist Association Communications Associate, merrillmiller@americanhumanist.org, 202-238-9088 ext. 105
(Newark, DE, Feb. 4, 2016) — The Delaware Coalition of Reason is celebrating “Charles Darwin Day” with an official proclamation from Delaware Governor Jack Markell. The proclamation, which was sent to the secular, pro-science group on January 7, 2016, declares February 12, 2016, to be “Charles Darwin Day in the State of Delaware for all of his achievements in the field of science.”
Charles Dyke, Delaware Coalition of Reason Coordinator, stated that the group requested the proclamation as part of an international effort to make Charles Darwin’s birthday a recognized holiday in celebration of science.
“Darwin’s discoveries have been responsible for advances in many fields, including agriculture, medicine, and environmental and conservation biology,” said Dyke. “Darwin Day is a way to celebrate anyone who has contributed to the scientific enterprise and to encourage more people to adopt scientific thinking.”
International Darwin Day, a program of the American Humanist Association founded by Dr. Robert Stephens, began working toward establishing a formally recognized holiday for the famous naturalist in 1993. The American Humanist Association also spearheads an initiative to broaden Darwin’s appeal with a website focused on celebrating Darwin’s life and work. It encourages local communities to do the same while promoting national efforts in the U.S. Congress to officially recognize Darwin Day by passing the Darwin Day Resolution. More information can be found at www.DarwinDay.org.
The Delaware Coalition of Reason’s Darwin Day celebration will be held at the Courtyard Marriott at the University of Delaware, on February 11 at 5:30pm and is open to the public. Guest speakers for the event will include Dr. Karen Rosenberg, professor of anthropology at the University of Delaware and expert on human evolution, and Nick Fish, National Program Director for American Atheists. Refreshments and a cash bar will be available. Community members are invited to celebrate, reflect and act on the principles of intellectual bravery, perpetual curiosity, scientific thinking and hunger for truth as embodied in the life of Charles Darwin.
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The Delaware Coalition of Reason is an affiliated chapter of the United Coalition of Reason. Founded in 2009, the United Coalition of Reason helps groups that share a region to partner together into local Coalitions of Reason, or Local CoRs. The groups then engage with their local initiatives and supply nation-level resources, all for free. United CoR then nurtures and helps to sustain what local groups are already doing, allowing them to take the lead in telling the national group what local initiatives are important.
The International Darwin Day Foundation, founded by Dr. Robert Stephens in 1993, is a project of the American Humanist Association. Its mission is to promote the public education of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and to encourage the celebration of science and humanity. Founded in 1941 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., the American Humanist Association (AHA) works to protect the rights of humanists, atheists, and other nontheistic Americans. The AHA advances the ethical and life-affirming philosophy of humanism, which—without beliefs in any gods or other supernatural forces—encourages individuals to live informed and meaningful lives that aspire to the greater good of humanity.