Empty or missing menstrual product dispensers in campus bathrooms will soon be a thing of the past thanks to a Student Government bill that ensures these dispensers will be present and stocked in bathrooms across campus. The Cox Science Building, Merrick Building, Murphy Design and the University Center Breezeway will have dispensers installed for the Spring semester.
Kat Hernandez, a senior majoring in history, political science and psychology and current SG Senate speaker of the house, started an initiative to receive consistent and reliable access to menstrual products throughout campus in the fall of 2022, when she was a commuter senator.
Hernandez spearheaded this initiative after noticing that the University was not meeting student need for these products
“I was constantly getting texts from friends asking if I had menstrual products because the bathroom they were in either ran out or didn’t have any at all,” Hernandez said. “I knew that there had to be a way to expand the access to menstrual products and ensure that they were stocked in bathrooms.”
She created and sent out a survey asking students about their experiences on campus and if this was a problem that other students were facing. Hernandez received over 800 responses, which helped her conclude that writing legislation to improve menstrual product access would be beneficial to the UM community.
After her survey gained widespread attention, she began drafting a bill to address this issue.
“It took a couple weeks to get the bill on the floor since I had to workshop it in the Senate’s University Affairs committee, meet with Campus Liaison Council members and contact facilities,” she said.
Even though the bill to install menstrual product dispensers in bathrooms was passed in the SG Senate in November of 2022, it is just now being implemented.
Branden Logatto, a senior majoring in accounting and finance and SG director of university affairs, was a member of the CLC at the time the bill was passed and said that the logistics of implementing the bill did not work out at the time.
“We didn’t have enough information or the administrative support to move the initiative forward,” Logatto said.
Once Logatto took over as director of university affairs, he became directly involved with the initiative and helped make the bill a reality.
“I took over the project and worked with my CLC colleagues Abdul Ahad Ahmad and Zachary Cooper-de Quesada, as well as administrators like John Tallon, the executive director of facilities and operations and James Johnson, the director of housing operations and facilities, to refine the plan and implement it,” Logatto said.
Remaining bathrooms that lack dispensers are expected to have dispensers installed this semester.
“It has definitely been a lengthy process. However, I’m thankful that any progress has been made at all,” Hernandez said.
In addition to her friends who inspired her to take action on this issue, Hernandez credits Dr. Renee Callan, the assistant vice president of student life, and Dr. Heather Stevens, the assistant to the senior vice president for student affairs, with helping her bring her vision to life.
“Without them, this would not have been possible. They supported me so much through the process from helping me make the survey to crafting the actual legislation,” Hernandez said.
Despite how long ago her bill has taken to be implemented, Hernandez is grateful for the opportunity to change campus life for the better.
“It’s been awesome to get to work on something that is so important to so many people,” Hernandez said.