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Syracuse University’s Student Association started to provide free menstrual hygiene products in 2017 after it allocated $500 to the purchase of around 2,500 tampons and 750 pads. But in recent years, it has moved away from managing it.

SA President David Bruen shared the difficulties of maintaining the restock of menstrual hygiene products. 

“The idea was that we as SA would have students put the products into bathrooms. And when we were doing that, it was completely run by students — completely volunteer — and it had to be upkept by us, as students. That was just not sustainable,” Bruen said. “We decided to work with the university in providing this in bathrooms.”

Bruen said SA wanted this program to be available in all campus bathrooms. SA is working with administration to provide free menstrual hygiene products across campus, he said.

“It’s something we’re determined to expand this year. It’s something we campaigned on expanding. It’s just been slow going,” he said. 

In fall 2021, when students and faculty returned to hybrid and in-person instruction after SU transitioned to fully online instruction in March 2020, the limited accessibility to the hygiene products was still an ongoing issue. 

Bruen hopes the university will completely service the program.

“I think the reason we started this in the first place is because we were filling a need that the university was not,” Bruen said.

People still have to pay for these products on campus. The limited dispensers around the campus bathrooms require 25 cents per tampon or pad. Since the pandemic, many payments are now cashless, and SU has not made menstrual hygiene a priority for people on campus, Bruen said.

Bruen said fall 2019 was the height of the program. At that time, Mackenzie Mertikas, a former president of SA, requested funds to ensure permanent dispensers were stocked around campus.  

“Things definitely changed from year to year. By the time, I was in my role (as president), and John Jankovic was also an assembly member … we relooked the program and relooked at trying to get the menstrual products into the dispensers,” Mertikas said.

Bruen said Mertikas was very adamant about pushing for the program. Due to the menstrual products not fitting into the dispensers, SA members brought caddies into different buildings across campus to freely distribute the products.

Bruen, who formerly lived in Sadler Hall, brought the caddies into the bathrooms on his floor. SA members consistently refilled those containers until the spring of 2020, before the pandemic.

“My position is that no one should pay. (Menstrual hygiene products) should be free. There should be no change. It should just be free,” Bruen said.

Published on November 1, 2021 at 12:32 am

Contact Ivana: ixie01@syr.edu