In 1967, a simple string of letters became a number one music hit for Aretha Franklin, and an appeal to people everywhere to give a little respect. Forty years later, students and staff members at Georgian College are taking up the call. The student-led RESPECT campaign will be launched June 10, Georgian Day.

College staff and faculty members will experience what RESPECT means at Georgian when Jim Lees, a driving force behind a similar campaign at Confederation College, speaks about the remarkable changes brought about by one simple word.

The goal of the campaign is to inspire people to consider their environment and adjust their actions accordingly. It originated at Confederation after discussions among students, faculty members, managers, administration, and support staff agreed that more needed to be done to address how people were treating each other and college property. The success of the Confederation campaign is evident across the campus and in the community, with people actively making the effort to inject respect into everything they do.

The impetus behind Confederation’s RESPECT campaign was to raise public awareness, to make civility a topic of discussion, to help raise the bar in terms of expectation of behaviour and to prepare students for the expectations of the work world. Georgian’s RESPECT campaign will follow the lead of Confederation, Fanshawe and Conestoga, who have each run successful movements.