by Jensen Kugler
According to The College of Wooster website, over 50 percent of the student body is female. Although this does not necessarily give a full comprehensive number of Wooster students who menstruate, it does give an indication. It is not a stretch to say that a large quantity of Wooster students menstruate. Despite a clear need for period products on campus, the vast majority of bathrooms on campus either do not have any menstrual products, or only offer them for a price. In order to extend care to Wooster students, the College needs to improve the availability of period products.
RAs provide contraceptive products in the dorm bathrooms, and they could do the same for pads and tampons. The system for providing care items to students in dorms is already in place and could arguably be applied to menstrual products. In addition, doing so would actually be cheaper than providing contraceptives. On Amazon, a bulk pack of 50 Lifestyles condoms costs approximately $10, while a bulk pack of 48 AmazonBasics menstrual pads costs around $5. In other words, it would be half the price to provide menstrual products. It would not be an unreasonable expenditure for the wellbeing of students.
Some of the bathrooms already have free pads and tampons, namely the gender-neutral bathrooms. It is an excellent step to have tampons and pads in gender-neutral bathrooms, but they need to be in other restrooms as well. Practically speaking, students cannot travel across campus in search of period products every time they need to use the bathroom. Most students at the College have jobs and classes, along with social engagements to get to, and it is inconvenient for many of them to seek out specific restrooms or go to the Wellness Center in order to care for themselves during their periods.
Menstruation is generally a monthly occurrence, and is accompanied by a variety of unpleasant and painful symptoms. It is cruel and unnecessary to give students one more thing to worry about during this time. Instead, the College should offer menstruating students extra support and increasing the supply of period products in campus bathrooms would be one of the easiest ways to do this.
The addition of free pads and tampons to buildings on campus would have a positive impact on Wooster students, but students would not be the only ones to benefit. From staff members to visiting prospective students, we could all benefit from this change. Equitable access to period products on campus can help create a more caring, inclusive environment for everyone. The College’s website boasts a community of college students who “[actively] promote equity and inclusion” and “work towards a just society.” The College needs to lead by example to cultivate these qualities in students, and could start with a small change that will make the school better for more than half of its students.
President McCall and the Board of Trustees, please show that you value the health and well-being of Wooster students. Put period products in all of the bathrooms.
