Spread the Word to End the Word: Frostburg State University

Spread the Word to End the Word: Frostburg State University

By: Caitlin Megonigal

           On March 6, 2012 Alpha Sigma Alpha, Kappa Beta Gamma and Best Buddies hosted the Spread the Word to End the Word event at Frostburg State University. Erin O’Connor the philanthropy chair of Alpha Sigma Alpha was the in charge of the event, and with help of Kathleen May (KBG) succeeded in making the event a success for the second year in a row.

 The week before this event, Alpha Sigma Alpha and Kappa Beta Gamma had a table in the universities Lane Center getting people to sign a pledge to end the use of the R-Word. With the help of students from both sororities, over 100 people signed the pledge. “By signing a pledge a person is simply saying that they will not use the word “retard” in their everyday language,” states Erin.

The event was emotional for most people, looking around several people were starting to tear up when the speakers from KBG and ASA were speaking about their experiences with people using this derogatory term against people they know and care about. The speakers from Alpha Sigma Alpha included Brittany Frazier (who also spoke for Best Buddies), Kandice Lenhart, Erin Johns and Shannon Snell, and the speakers on behalf of Kappa Beta Gamma were Kathleen May, Hannah Edler and Crystal Alexander.

This was the first year that Kappa Beta Gamma helped out with the event, and to Kathleen May she couldn’t feel more rewarded. “Spread the Word to End the Word is such an amazing thing. It is promoting the idea to stop the use of the R-Word,” said Kathleen.

When Kathleen first heard about Spread the Word to End the Word, she thought it was an amazing idea. “The idea was so important to me, as I am an education major. I have worked with students that have intellectual disabilities and it is such a rewarding experience. Children with I.D., I have found often view school more highly than others, and take so much pride in learning things! It's amazing,” stated Kathleen. To Kathleen this was only a small step to promote the end of the use of the R-Word. “Those children (and adults) getting bullied every day for it, it breaks my heart, she said.”

 To Erin O’Connor the philanthropy chair and coordinator of Spread the Word to End the Word, this event was equally important.  “This event holds a special place in my heart because of a sweet little boy named Ryan who has Trisomy 10, a very rare chromosome disorder, who my mom watched while I was in high school,” stated Erin. There was only one speaker though that noticeably caused the audience to shed tears, and that was Shannon Snell one of the speakers from Alpha Sigma Alpha. Shannon told the story of her brother who was born with Down syndrome and constantly got bullied at school, to the point that he hated himself, and hated life, and eventually killed himself. Shannon was unavailable to give a statement.

Though the event did not have the turn-out it did last year, the event was still a success with about two dozen people, mostly from other Greek organizations on campus coming out to support it. Spread the Word to End the Word is actually a national event hosted by the Special Olympics. All year round one can visit their website (www.r-word.org) to sign this pledge.