On April 20, SGA passed a resolution in support of the assistant dean’s initiative to implement period products in all current and future restrooms at UCCS.
Assistant dean and Director of Student Affairs Sarah Long started the campaign back in 2021. She has since added period product dispensers in nine of the women’s and gender-neutral bathrooms in the University Center, Rec Center and University Hall.
Long plans to continue adding dispensers in the remaining bathrooms in those buildings, and her long-term goal is to put them in all of the bathrooms on campus.
“It’s been quite a journey for this process, but we’re really excited to keep going,” Long said.
Senator-at-Large Isabella Polombo introduced the resolution to the senate and has been working on this project with Long for months. In recognition of Long’s efforts, she asked SGA to stand in solidarity with the initiative.
“This shouldn’t have to be a resolution. This should just be a standard for everyone,” Polombo said.
According to Polombo, the committee working on the project started a survey months ago, in which 97% of respondents said they wanted access to period products in bathrooms.
Polombo read off a few responses from the survey. “Because I’m in emergency, I can’t make a 15-minute walk from somewhere like Hybl just to use the bathroom …We shouldn’t have to pay for period products as is, they should be accessible on campus,” she read.
Polombo agreed with this survey response and expressed the importance of this issue. “This shouldn’t have to be a resolution,” she said. “This should just be a standard for everyone.”
In other news:
- SGA made amendments to their constitution and bylaws. Many of their changes fixed the language of the laws, but they also changed the title for “Senator of Military Affairs” to “Senator of Veteran and Military Affairs.” The names of the senators will also be shown when voting on legislation to promote more transparency and accountability.
- SGA added two additional senate seats. There will now be a Senator of Commuter Students and a Senator of Clubs, Organizations and Greek life.
- SGA passed the budget for the 2024 fiscal year. The budget advisory committee (BAC) made budget cuts, but worked with campus organizations to maintain appropriate funding for several student and faculty organizations.
- This meeting was the last SGA meeting for the semester.
Photo from Getty Images.