Four students met with UW-Madison Provost Sarah Mangelsdorf Wednesday to request the school offer free feminine hygiene products in Bascom Hall restrooms.
Jordan Madden, the President of UW’s Accessible Reproductive Healthcare Initiative, along with Associated Students of Madison Vice Chair Mariam Coker, ASM Coordinating Council member Mara Matovich and freshman ASM representative Evan Pelke, used the meeting to stress the benefits of providing free and accessible menstrual products in campus bathrooms.
“I’ve encountered so many people on this campus … that think that tampons and menstrual products should be just as accessible, if not more so, than condoms, toiletries and many of the other items that people have available at their disposal,” Madden told the Daily Cardinal.
Earlier this year, Brown University became one of the first colleges in the country to provide free tampons and pads in their bathrooms. Madden and Coker said they are confident that the success at Brown can be replicated at UW-Madison.
“I’m very, very hopeful,” Coker said. “This is something that people are definitely talking about and definitely interested in. It’s just a matter of time.”
Madden, who is also a member of the UW Health Care Advisory Committee, said he chose to start the initiative with Bascom Hall because of its significance to the campus community. His long-term goal, though, is for feminine hygiene products to be free and accessible in all campus bathrooms by 2018.
The main challenge, he said, is working alongside administration to determine the details for funding the project. However, Wednesday’s meeting alleviated some of his concerns.
“A lot of the research I’ve been doing is to calculate the net cost of this initiative,” Madden said. “[The provost] said she is on board and willing to provide us with the resources and data to make these calculations.”
Ultimately, Madden and Coker hope to mobilize more students as the movement gains traction. Coker said the initiative is especially important now, “at a time when women’s health is being compromised.”
“This is the time to take a stand, and this is the stand we’re taking,” Coker said. “We need to push for these rights that women deserve.”
UPDATE Nov. 30 6:34 p.m.: This article has been updated to reflect the fact that four students were at the meeting, not three. The Daily Cardinal regrets this error.
