If you’ve been in the women’s room in Olin, you may have noticed a small basket of menstrual products. If you’ve looked closely at the small container, you would have noticed a small sign stating that they’re free for anyone to use and to scan a QR code to have them refilled once they are empty. If you were like me, you probably wondered who started this program and why. The answer is the sorority Tau Sigma Gamma.
Director of Health Promotion Katie Bean and Associate Director of the Institute for Student Success Carla Anderson reached out to the sorority with the idea. The Wellness Center had received a grant from an alum named Winifred Cutler to make the project possible, and Wellness decided to make the project more long-term by connecting it to a student organization to encourage long-term support of the project. One of the sisters of the sorority, Macey Hoffman, was extremely excited about it and worked closely with Bean and Anderson to complete the project.
Hoffman explained that there are ambitions to expand the project beyond Olin, but Bean, Anderson, and Hoffman decided it would be best to start on a smaller scale before trying to do the whole campus. They will need more support and donations for further expansion, and the sorority is very hopeful that they will be able to get those in the future.
I asked Hoffman if there are any ways for students on campus to help out with this project. She said, “I think it would be great if more people wanted to get involved in helping to stock or donate. But mostly, just spreading the word is helpful right now since this is all so new.” Hoffman also mentioned, “I think right now, part of the focus is probably going to be on Tau Sig or health promotion to try and raise more funds or find a way to be able to support these efforts for years to come. As of right now, the products have been very popular (more so than thought), so we need to focus on how we will be able to sustain this project.” I also asked if there were plans to put any of the menstruation products in any of the non-gender bathrooms or the men’s bathrooms for those who do not identify as women. She said, “I personally would love to extend the project to include men/gender neutral bathrooms, and also more of the bathrooms around campus.”
Finally, Hoffman and all of the Tau Sigma Gamma sisters wanted to thank the campus for all their support to say that they are very grateful for the opportunity to carry out this project and are honored that they have been able to give support to those who need it on campus.