The Daily Bulletin Archive

The Council for Exceptional Children and Best Buddies will host this year’s Spread the Word to End the Word (STW) campaign on campus Tuesday, March 1; Wednesday, March, 2; and Thursday, March 3. STW is a nationwide campaign whose mission is to raise people’s awareness of the derogatory use of the R-word (retard or retarded) and its negative effects on people with intellectual disabilities, their families, and their friends; however, the campaign is about more than just raising awareness; it is also about changing attitudes of segregation and hate to attitudes of acceptance and respect.

For the past five years, support for our campuswide campaign of STW has grown immensely. Last year, almost 700 faculty, students, and staff pledged to not use the R-word. This year, we would like to make it even more. The Council for Exceptional Children and Best Buddies will staff tables in the Campbell Student Union from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. throughout the campaign to educate the campus community to create a new R-word: respect. In addition, they will hold an event to celebrate inclusion, diversity, and respect on Thursday, March 3, at 6:00 p.m. in Butler Library 210. All are welcome.

We hope all members of the campus community will sign the pledge to Spread the Word to End the Word.