Thought man-pons were only reserved for Comedy Central sketches? Think again.
This month, the Columbia University Student Council voted to launch a pilot program to distribute free tampons across campus — even in the men’s restrooms. According to the Columbia Spectator, tampons and pads will be installed in female, male, and gender-neutral bathrooms in 10 academic buildings as well as in the school library.
The move comes after the Columbia administration ended a pilot program that gave students the ability to pick up free tampons and pads at Columbia Health Services. The administration’s pilot program was terminated due to a lack of student interest.
Columbia students have been calling for administrators to offer free tampons for the past year.
“Columbia should pay for my period,” declared Barnard-Columbia junior Courtney Couillard in an op-ed earlier this year.
In her article, Couillard wrote, “Why can’t I find a free tampon in the bathrooms in [on Barnard and Columbia’s campus]? Why does the administration care about my sexual protective rights, but not how I handle my monthly menstrual cycle?”
Two Columbia seniors, Sophie Gorham and Ellie Wisnicki, demanded free tampons as well.
“Our periods should be free, period,” they argued in a joint op-ed.
“We believe that by failing to provide free tampons and pads, the Columbia administration not only implies that the hygiene-related needs of students who have periods are unimportant, but also contributes to the already exclusive socioeconomic climate on campus,” said Gorham and Wisnicki stated.
They also called for free tampons in the men’s room as well.
“Even further, gender-nonconforming and trans masculine students already must go through the potentially dysphoric experience of getting their period. We should be at least giving them a safe space both emotionally and economically to receive sanitary products.”
They referenced Brown University as a precedent Columbia should follow.
Brown made headlines earlier this semester for being one of the first colleges to offer free tampons in bathrooms, including gender-neutral and men’s rooms.
Columbia student government officials did not respond to request for comment.
