The College began a pilot program to provide free menstrual products in 10 public restrooms across campus on Jan. 20, according to Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Jeff Malanson.
The office of the Dean of the College is responsible for purchasing menstrual pads and tampons, Malanson wrote in an email to the Record, while staff from the custodial department distribute and restock the supplies.
Previously, the registered student organization (RSO) PERIOD. provided menstrual products, which were available in some campus restrooms. PERIOD. is a member of the Minority Coalition (MinCo), and “strives to eradicate period poverty and stigma,” according to its RSO’s description. Members of the PERIOD. board advocated for the creation of the pilot program.
Ella Sukup ’26, former chair of PERIOD., said that the group had been using its budget to purchase menstrual products since her first year at the College. “[Access to products] would die off pretty often,” she told the Record. “Sometimes an order wouldn’t come in, or people would get busy during the semester.”
Sukup hopes that with the College managing purchasing, period products will be more consistently available.
Last school year, MinCo sponsored the maintenance of a steady supply of products in the Gender and Sexuality Resource Room at the Davis Center.
“That was really helpful,” Sukup said. “But it was only one room, so it wasn’t as accessible as we were hoping.”
The process of planning a College-sponsored program began over the summer, according to PERIOD. Co-Chair Aurora Lewis ’28.
In the fall, Sukup and Lewis met with staff from multiple offices at the College, including the Davis Center and Human Resources. They were eventually directed to Malanson, who suggested they run a small pilot program in one restroom on campus. They chose the restroom next to Eco Café because of its frequent use on weekdays and relatively equal distance from most dorms on campus.
According to a report that Sukup and Lewis wrote, an average of 3.8 pads and 2.4 tampons per day were taken from the test restroom during a three week period last fall. They calculated that the College would spend $2,232 per year to supply these products at that rate to 10 campus restrooms.
“The report made clear that there was a need and that the overall costs should be manageable,” Malanson wrote. He said that his office requested funding for the program through the College’s annual budget process but has also freed up current-year funding to support it this semester.
“We are still calling this a pilot at this stage because this will give us a better opportunity to understand the costs of the program, in terms of both people power for our custodial team and the finances involved with maintaining ten restrooms,” Malanson added.
Lewis said that, although PERIOD. is no longer formally involved, she has been giving feedback to Malanson. “There were a couple issues at first,” including products not being refilled, she said. “Luckily they’ve been worked out.”
Since the program is still in its early stages, the College has not yet publicized it, Malanson said. Although Malanson, Lewis, and Sukup have not received much student feedback on the program, all are optimistic. “Overall, I think it’s going well so far,” Lewis said.
