By Kaylin Guzman
Brooklyn College has recently begun to fill up menstrual product dispensers inside the women’s and gender-neutral bathrooms across campus. Most dispensers now hold sanitary napkins and tampons available to anyone who needs them for free.
As of press time, The Vanguard could not confirm whether the college or CUNY has supplied the menstrual products that are currently available.
“Per the university’s procurement process, the college is working with vendors to secure quotes, so there is no update at this time,” wrote Richard Pietras, the college’s media relations manager, in a statement to The Vanguard when commenting on the dispensers and how BC obtained the products.
Many students have since used the products that are readily available to them.
“We have definitely noticed. There was initially, last semester, going to be a push with student government and the Women’s Center to be like, let’s get menstrual products into each of the bathrooms,” said Iqura Naheed, program director of the Muslim Women Leadership Development Program and staff of the Women’s Center at BC. She explained that the accessibility of menstrual hygiene products on campus is a significant step forward.
“We provide a variety of them so people can take whatever they are comfortable with,” explained Naheed. “We think it’s important that they were free, which they are.”
Before the menstrual product dispensers had been filled, the Women’s Center and Health Clinic were the only places to get such products on campus. Students can now walk into a supplied bathroom facility and turn a knob for their menstrual product of choice. Some dispensers, however, have already been emptied. With no information on how they will be replenished, people in need of these products may not be aware that most bathrooms are supplied with sanitary napkins or tampons, or be able to obtain them when needed.
Melissa Vitrago, a student at Brooklyn College, had yet to realize that the school had placed these products inside restrooms across campus. “I think it’s great since we all know it can happen whenever, and you know, sometimes you’re just not prepared. It’s very rare that you’re lucky that someone in the bathroom has an extra or spare,” Vitrago said.