According to The Daily Barometer, an independent campus newspaper of Oregon State University, in the winter quarter the university will offer free feminine hygiene products in campus building restrooms “regardless of gender.”
Associated Students of Oregon State University (ASOSU) Queer Affairs Coordinator Julian Chu stated:
With the increasing numbers of homelessness and poverty in Corvallis, this will be able to alleviate student’s budgets to other things such as food/groceries, books, gas, rent, etc. … We are adding these resources to all bathrooms, as not all students who menstruate are female-identified, some may identify as LGBTQIA+, male, other, etc. Those students may not be comfortable entering a specific bathroom if we provided these resources only in a specific bathroom, and would exclude them from receiving these resources.
First stop for the feminine hygiene products: the bathrooms at the Memorial Union and Student Experience Center. The Daily Barometer added, “The initiative was proposed by ASOSU. Initially, the leader of the initiative was the Womxn’s Affairs Coordinator at ASOSU, Eve Selbie. However, due to other priorities, Selbie was unable to continue leading the initiative. The initiative is now being lead by Chu.”
Kylie Boenisch, vice president of ASOSU, said, “As someone who menstruates, having access to free products for a normal bodily function will alleviate stress in situations where I may not have a certain product on me and am in need. Products for other normal bodily functions are free in our everyday life, such as toilet paper, tissues, etc. Access to products is not a privilege, it’s a right.”
Chu opined, “The MU and SEC were the first ones to start this and we hope for the other buildings as well to find a way to provide these services for free as some locations have limited budgets to do so.”
Deb Mott, Director of the Memorial Union, echoed, “These resources are a part of our work that reflects our values of service, inclusion and accountability to the OSU community. As the campus student union, the MU endeavors to support the differing necessities of life all students require.”
Rachel Josephson, ASOSU president, said, “Providing these services to all genders is absolutely necessary in serving the needs of the student body and also to shape an inclusive future students want to see, and that the world needs.”
Chu concluded, “What we hope to achieve in regards to applying it to all buildings and having the end goal be where OSU pays for these products otherwise students will still be paying for these menstrual products.”
On Monday, OSU held a Martin Luther King Jr. Peace March which began outside the LaSells Stewart Center; transgender activist, writer and editor Raquel Willis had given the keynote address to mark OSU’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Week. She stated, “We must all recognize that we all carry the capacity to both be oppressed and be an oppressor … commit to being your truest self and supporting others. Each of our individual stories is just a thread in a larger, multicolored, glittering tapestry.”
H/T The College Fix