The New School main academic buildings could soon have free menstrual products in restrooms. Several university groups are pushing for the “No Pay Period Product” initiative, which would put free pads and tampons in several New School buildings by spring 2023.
The Student Senate (USS), Student Health Services (SHS), Eugene Lang Civil Engagement and Social Justice Office (CESJ), the 301 Resident Hall Director, and two members of One New School (ONS) have come together to create the “No Pay Period Product” initiative. It aims to implement free menstrual products in New School bathrooms as soon as possible.
“If we don’t have to pay for toilet paper in the bathrooms, we shouldn’t have to pay for tampons or pads because menstruating is natural,” McKenna Merriman, the Vice Chair of Internal Affairs for the Student Senate, said.
By the end of the spring 2023 semester, the initiative hopes to have free pads and tampons in the most-used bathrooms in the university’s main academic buildings, including the University Center (UC), Eugene Lang, and the Vera List Center (16th St. Building). By academic year 23-24, the group aims for these products to be available in all university restrooms, including restrooms in communal areas of residence halls and bathrooms on administrative floors.
University Student Senators Kartik Gupta, Ahana Sharma, and McKenna Merriman have been working closely with Tay DeGorter, the 301 Resident Hall Director, Tracy Robin and Tamara Oyola-Santiago from SHS, and Lisa Betty, the Director of CESJ, to make this initiative possible since Feb. 15. Two organizers from One New School, Vanessa Guaraca Gonzalez and Chrisaleen Ciro, joined the team in early March.
Student senators Gupta and Sharma co-applied for a $1,500 CESJ Mini-Grant on March 3 to obtain funding to implement the first phase of their plan. This phase includes stocking the bathrooms determined as most frequently used in academic buildings with pads and tampons.
During a March 6 Student Senate vote, the Senate’s motion to commit a sum of $5,000 to the initiative from the Senate’s budget passed. Betty said the No Pay Period Project will reach out to Student Advocacy Support, the Provost’s Office, the President’s Office, Facilities, and Housing/Residential Education to advocate for further funding for the upcoming budget cycle.
The groups involved have been meeting on a weekly basis to “lay down the foundations for [the project’s] vision,” Oyola-Santiago said. They have not officially confirmed a date to begin rolling out the initiative, as they are still figuring out key details regarding implementation and funding. However, they have shared a tentative start date of mid-April.
“We’re planning to make sure that we’re stocked up with a variety of products that are good quality and sustainable. That will just help students in the long term manage their cycles,” Betty added. Leaders of the initiative hope to stock products like pads and tampons inside bathrooms, as well as diva cups and other reusable period products in the CESJ Office.
The New School currently offers free menstrual products to students in certain locations. In the Student Health Services building (located at 80 5th Ave., 3rd Floor) and the Lang CESJ Office (located at 65 West 11th St., Office 353), free pads and tampons are available. Roughly $400 of SHS’s current budget is currently allocated to purchase these products, Robin said in an email.
The coalition’s goal of putting menstrual products in bathrooms is motivated by a desire to make obtaining these products at school “more accessible,” Oyola-Santiago said. The group hopes that the increased availability and visibility of these products in the coming months will support the community’s needs.
Additional reporting by Christopher Adams