The Student Government Association (SGA) has begun stocking period products in some bathrooms on campus as a part of their People with Periods initiative.
The bathrooms currently stocked with the products include the Clark Hall men’s and women’s bathrooms, the Fayard Hall men’s and women’s bathrooms on the first and second floor and the Cate Teacher Education Center women’s bathrooms on the second floor.
“The reason that the CATE building does not have period products in the men’s restrooms yet, is because the People with Periods initiative is still growing in available resources and volunteers,” said Estelle Savario, the SGA student life committee chair.
At the end of the 2023 Fall semester, SGA passed a bill to fund acrylic stands holding period products such as tampons and pads in male and female bathrooms around campus.
SGA said it currently plans on expanding to other buildings and eventually replacing the acrylic stands with metal dispensers as they can hold more products and be more permanent.
“We are hoping to begin stocking restrooms in the Kinesiology Building Annex very soon and there are also some ideas about stocking White Hall and Garrett Hall by the end of the semester,” Savario said.
SGA has yet to receive much negative feedback from students, but a few of the acrylic stands have already been vandalized or stolen.
“When we wrote the original legislation and wrote the new budget, we budgeted in theft and vandalism so even if some people don’t want these items in bathrooms, our mission is to make sure all students have access to those products,” said SGA Vice President Matt Matthews.
The initiative is funded by the assistantship, the SGA’s main budget which is funded through student fees. SGA also uses student fees to provide other items across campus such as staples and scantrons in the library.
“The Senate reviews and votes on legislation to fund grants and other SGA initiatives. All of SGA’s money comes from student fees and can only be spent on students,” Matthews said.
For any money to be spent from the assistantship fund, it has to be approved by the senate and then by Lacey Johnson, the current president of SGA.
If you have any questions, comments or concerns about the initiative, SGA urges the Southeastern community to reach out to them. They can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at 985-549-3805.
“There is currently a poll available when scanning the People with Periods flyer’s QR code in the designated bathrooms as well as on the SGA Instagram Linktree,” Savario said.
