SGA is taking steps to finish and expand upon a period product initiative started in 2021 that installed 20 dispensers in women’s and gender-neutral restrooms.
The Menstrual Product Project was started by Sarah Long, the assistant dean and director of student affairs. The pilot project was given $30,000 to install the dispensers in the University Center, Wellness Center and University Hall, but the plan was delayed due to the pandemic, and dispensers were only placed in the UC and Wellness Center.
An ad hoc committee was formed at the Oct. 10 SGA Senate meeting at the request of Senator of Innovation Isabella Polombo and Senator of Letters, Arts and Sciences Samrawit Kopessa, who are heading the committee. The committee plans to focus on revamping the initiative.
To do this, the committee has seven action items to complete, including creating a marketing campaign for the project and finding grant money or donations to help with funding, according to a presentation Polombo gave to SGA.
The committee is set to be operational until the end of the academic year but could be extended beyond that if SGA sees a need for it to continue.
Since the pandemic, the project has progressed slowly due to difficulties complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act and expensive installation costs according to Long. The dispensers are approximately nine inches deep, and ADA compliance only allows four inches protruding from the wall, so they must be recessed into the wall which significantly increases the installation cost.
To preemptively treat this, dispensers have been put in new restrooms, including restrooms in the Anschutz Engineering Center and the gender-neutral restroom in the Kraemer Family Library.
Long highlighted the importance of raising awareness around the project on campus.
“It’s a really cool thing being able to at least … create awareness around free menstrual products … and that they’re available and that they’re in locations where you don’t have to ask somebody for it,” she said. Long hopes this initiative will help students feel like they belong on campus.
In addition to the current dispensers, facilities have period product cases that are available for any faculty, staff or student-led free period product initiatives.
The project has received a grant of $10,000 from the Green Action Fund and the Division of Inclusive Culture and Belonging has committed to financially support the project for five years.
A period product dispenser on campus. Photo by Lillian Davis.