Original article written by Jennifer Anima, The Sunflower Reporter
Free menstrual products are available for students, eight months after the Wichita State Student Government Association passed a bill providing funding for the initiative.
The Menstrual Product Project started off with 14 locations around campus, which had free menstrual product dispensers set up by the end of the 2023-2024 school year. Products are also made available in men’s and unisex bathrooms throughout campus for transgender and gender-nonconforming students.
The Menstrual Product Project started in September 2022, with several executive cabinet members partnering with Delaney Jones, former president of Intersectional Feminists On Campus Uniting Students (FOCUS).
This movement stemmed from project members noticing the student body’s rise in general needs.
Alice Fitzgerald, former sustainability director, explained that from 2021 to 2022, students accessing the Shocker Support Locker increased drastically. The locker offers free food, clothing, toiletries and family products to students, faculty, and staff.
A lot of students are struggling, and we saw the Menstrual Product Project as an opportunity to help out with some of that. Basically, the goal by the end of the project is to pretty much have a free menstrual product dispenser in hopefully every bathroom that students normally access on campus
Alice Fitzgerald
The group also mentioned that many students reported having missed classes and extracurriculars because of the lack of these products.
If you’re paying already, you know, thousands [of dollars] to go to college, it’s unfair that you’d have to miss classes that you paid for because you don’t have the products.
Delaney Jones
Project members also noticed free menstrual products being offered at other school campuses like Washburn University, which offered the group “tips” on how to bring an Aunt Flow program to Wichita State’s campus.
Fitzgerald explained the importance of free dispensers and for those in need to be able to grab period products without asking someone, which could lead to an uncomfortable situation for some.
We are a cash-free campus, so the chance of me carrying around a bag of quarters is slim to none.
Delaney Jones
When the dispensers are running low, students can fill out a form by going to the WSU website or scanning a QR code available on each dispenser.
