The Right to Respect
Our name, logo, and tagline are often the first things a person sees when he or she encounters The Arc—and just as our work has evolved since The Arc was first established, so too have these three elements evolved into what they are today.
Founded in 1950 as the National Association of Parents and Friends of Mentally R* Children, our parent organization has undergone multiple name changes since its founding. Previous iterations of The Arc’s name included the r-word, which in the early ’50s, was a medical term. But over time, some started using the word as an insult that demeaned and disrespected people with IDD.
In response, in 1992, our parent organization—then known as ‘A-R-C’—changed its name to The Arc of the United States, with chapters like ours following suit. A new logo and tagline were adopted later, in 2011: A flowing, brightly colored “swoosh” culminating in a burst of energy, alongside the tagline “Achieve with us.”
Importantly, “The Arc” is not an acronym. It is a noun that holds different meanings for different people. In the context of our work, it is often interpreted as a symbol for the arc of a person’s lifetime.
Lori Ropa is the executive director of The Arc-JCCGC. She also took part in focus groups that helped shape The Arc’s current, more dynamic logo and tagline. She recalls:
“Eliminating the use of ‘A-R-C’ forever makes a beautiful statement about what it means to demonstrate respect for someone. The acronym no longer reflected the changing value system of the community that we serve; in fact, it almost unintentionally reinforced the use of the R-word. And that’s when ‘The Arc,’ with the swoosh logo, came into being. The idea behind that was that we needed something that wasn’t static. We needed to have something that indicated that there was continued motion and that we weren't done with our work. The logo became the manifestation of the values we hold and our commitment to the future. That visual reminder is important.”
*Language that is offensive to our community today has been replaced in this article with the letter “R”.
