Pepperdine Feminist Club is providing free period products in 17 restrooms across Pepperdine’s campus.
Pepperdine Feminist Club started the free menstrual products initiative Sept. 24 to demonstrate how these resources aren’t always something students have to talk about or fight for, but rather something that can just be readily available for students, Sofia Reyes, co-president of Pepperdine Feminist Club, said.
“We think it’s important that women on campus have access to menstrual products,” Cassandra Barron, co-president of Pepperdine Feminist Club, said.
Pepperdine Feminist Club started this initiative as a way to exercise their mission, and while the plan for maintaining this program in the future seems uncertain, they are heartened by the positive feedback received so far, Barron said.
Pepperdine Feminist Club Mission
Reyes said she felt providing free period products was the perfect mission to take on at the start of the academic year.
“As an organization we really want to focus on changing things that actually matter, within our school community and that are feasible and attainable and this was a very attainable goal to achieve,” Reyes said.
This was a way the club could create community involvement and exercise their mission without having a formal meeting, Reyes said.
They wanted to create a consistent resource for students, Reyes said.
The Student Government Association period product initiative also began this year and spans across five restrooms around campus, according to previous reporting.
“We definitely see ourselves as an organization that wants to like be a part of fixing this issue,” Reyes said.
As an effort to be a part of the solution, the club wants to provide products in every bathroom and help maintain these products, Reyes said.
They want to fill in the gaps wherever they can, Barron said.
“The biggest priority is making sure that everyone has access,” Barron said.
Plan for the Future
The temporary plan the Pepperdine Feminist Club exercises is asking professors around campus to provide donations for their free period products, Barron said.
The club collects donations through a Google form, which the two co-presidents started sending out to their professors, Reyes said.
“We have been asking professors to provide donations, which has worked really well so far,” Barron said.
The form helps the club figure out how many boxes will be donated and organizes a pick-up time, Reyes said.
“That is our initial step, just to keep it going as long as we can,” Barron said.
The ultimate goal for the club is to make this initiative an institution at Pepperdine, Reyes said.
“Ultimately we want to support those larger departments and those larger groups at school who have the power to make this something that’s sustainably here and consistent,” Reyes said. “Because that’s really important to like the actual longevity of this project.”
They want to partner, educate and encourage whichever areas of Pepperdine can help make this project a long-term solution, Reyes said.
“I think for now this is a good first step to eventually get there especially bringing conversation and attention to the issue,” Barron said.
Barron said she hopes they will be able to obtain the long-term goal throughout the course of the year.
Student Response
The feedback they’ve received is positive, the co-presidents of the club said.
“I’ve talked to a few people who aren’t in Feminist Club and everyone seems super supportive,” Barron said.
Junior Milena Velez said she also felt positively about the program.
“I’m glad that they put them [period products] in there [restrooms],” Velez said. “When I saw them I was pleasantly surprised.”
A wide range of support is also displayed on the Instagram post associated with the announcement of this new initiative.
This initiative is for the greater good of the Pepperdine community, Reyes said.
“We want to be a net positive thing on this campus and I think this was a great first step into doing that,” Reyes said.
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Contact Mackenzie Krause via email: mackenzie.krause@pepperdine.edu
