Whereas, “respect” and “empathy” are two of the UC Irvine’s core values; and,

Whereas, the term “retard(ed)” is harmful because it is exclusive, offensive, and derogatory; and,

Whereas, the term also offends those who are mentally-disabled; and,

Whereas, the R-word is used by students to perpetuate disrespectfulness, whether intentionally or not; and,

Whereas, there is currently a campaign going on hosted by Push America Philanthropy of the Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity nationally called “Spread the Word to End the Word” that advocates for the end of the use of the term by students and organizations when describing people; and,

Whereas, Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity is a fraternity that focuses on a lot of philanthropic events, such as Journey of Hope, Gear Up Florida, Build America, etc.; and,

Whereas, it is the duty of Associated Students of UC Irvine (ASUCI) to address students’ concerns; and,

Let it be resolved that, ASUCI supports Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity’s campaign to “Spread the Word to End the Word” and therefore supporting to drop the R-word; and,

Let it be further resolved that ASUCI calls on everyone representing the institution of the University of California, Irvine to end the use of the R-word when describing people; and,

Let it be finally resolved that ASUCI condemns any use of the R-word in reference to people by anyone, whether or not they are associated with UC Irvine.

Sources: http://www.r-word.org/