"Change the ref" is the name of a 501(c)(3) non profit group. The fundraising website describes the group's purpose as "Change the Ref supports the next generation of voters who feel that current leadership has failed them from the local to the federal level. Our mission is to fuel the youth of today by empowering their voices to ensure that they are heard by those who are seeking election and re-election!"

There is nothing easily found on the website to define the phrase. "Change The Ref (CTR), a Non-profit 501 c-3 Organization, was formed to empower our Future Leaders. It uses urban art and nonviolent creative confrontation to expose the disastrous effects of the mass shooting pandemic." The site describes what the mission of the non profit organization is...

As amateur etymologists and word users, you and I, the readers of this post, can extract some sort of meaning for this phrase: Let's elect new politicians who will guide us and help us follow the rules and make things better. We need new referees, so let's change the ref. (in other words, let's change the referees)... You can see referee can be used in a negative way (the blind ref). The use in "change the ref" assumes that a sighted positive person is going to be the new ref.

You can find a gofundme fundraising account by searching "go fund me change the ref"

This phrase did not appear in Urban Dictionary on July 3, 2018, so it's being added.
We need to change the ref. We need to get someone else in there to make and enforce the rules. Let's elect new politicians who will guide us and help us follow the rules and make things better. We need new referees, so let's change the ref.
by globalskillsinstructor July 3, 2018
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