MANSFIELD, PA— The Mansfield University Department of Psychology, the MU chapter of Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology, and the Psychology Club “Spread the Word to End the Word” on Wednesday, March 2.
Spread the Word to End the Word is an ongoing effort by Special Olympics, Best Buddies and their supporters to raise peoples’ awareness of the derogatory use of the R-word (retard or retarded) and its negative effects on people with intellectual disabilities, as well as their families and friends.
The campaign is about more than just raising awareness of the R-word; it is also about changing attitudes of segregation and hate, to attitudes of acceptance and respect.
More than 600 MU students, faculty and staff pledged to show respect by not using the r-word by signing a banner.
“This is a word I still hear too often on campus and in the community,” Gretchen Sechrist, chair of the Department of Psychology, said. “If it is part of your vocabulary, then just get rid of it. You don’t need to use it, and it is extremely offensive. I was thrilled to see so many people pledge respect by signing the banner.”
Irene Morgan from Partners in Progress and four Tioga County Special Olympic Athletes were also on hand for the pledge event. Partners in Progress is a Non-Profit organization, committed to people with disabilities to develop and implement vocational, residential and social activities to improve the quality of life for all within our communities.
If anyone wou
ld still like to sign the pledge, the banner is on display at the Department of Psychology offices on the second floor of South Hall.
The MU event was sponsored by the Department of Psychology and supported by Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union (PSECU).
The annual day of awareness is held the first Wednesday of every March across the U.S. and in many other parts of the world. This is the second time the Department of Psychology has sponsored a pledge event on the Mansfield University campus.
Spread the Word to End the Word was founded by college students Soeren Palumbo (Notre Dame 2011) and Tim Shriver (Yale 2011) in 2009.
For more information on Spread the Word to End the Word, go to r-word.org
To see pictures of the event, click here.