I am the advocacy director for Longhorn Best Buddies, an organization that is centered around advocacy, friendship and employment for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Best Buddies is an organization that has impacted myself, as well as many others, to not just be more involved but to become an advocate. Best Buddies is an international organization, and the program at The University of Texas at Austin is one of the largest, if not the largest, in the country.

Over the past few years, we have taken on the campaign “Spread the Word to End the R-Word.” The R-word hurts because it is exclusive, offensive and derogatory. Our campaign asks people to pledge to stop saying the R-word as a starting point toward creating more accepting attitudes and communities for all people.

As we approach national Spread the Word day on March 3, my team and I have been reaching out to various organizations in order to encourage each member to take the pledge to end the R-word. Over 800,000 people across over 80 countries have already committed to discourage use of the R-word and to remove it from everyday language. 

Additionally, Longhorn Best Buddies has partnered with UT Student Government in sponsoring a piece of legislation to establish the negative nature of the word and combat its use among UT students and faculty. With all these efforts, we are hoping to foster greater acceptance so that everyone in our community can feel valued, respected and included.

Reckart is an exercise science sophomore from Austin, Texas.