It’s a taboo topic that no one wants to talk about: women’s menstruation cycles. In most settings, the situation is reserved for the individual, with the occasional army of women coming together to get a pad or tampon for the poor soul who has gotten her period early.
However, menstrual cycles are a regular biological process. And for Eastern, it’s a regular biological process that affects over 60% of our population. Despite this, something as basic as menstrual products (such as pads and tampons) and rubbish bins are missing from the female restrooms across campus.
“I believe that this issue affects our entire student body. If females don’t have basic support, then how can we be expected to operate during the same hours as men on campus? We can’t,” Student Government Association President Sarah Westmoreland said.
Having these products available serves practical needs surrounding women’s menstruation periods, both time-saving and hygienic.
“One student expressed to me that there’s a problem with the students having to go back to their dorms to change menstrual products because there’s, especially with tampons, a bit of urgency to change tampons. People are missing class as a result or they’re late to class and that’s bad,” a female professor who wished to remain anonymous said.
Having feminine products in bathrooms prevents women from lacking a necessary product. For many women, cycles don’t happen regularly for a variety of health reasons, including medications and conditions like PCOS. There’s also the matter of hygiene and changing out menstrual products to avoid reactions like Toxic Shock Syndrome or urinary tract infections (UTI). In addition, having rubbish bins is a matter of basic hygiene and dignity.
“I was in the women’s restroom in Walton, and I noticed there was a [lack] of the rubbish bins in the women’s restroom stalls. I had to awkwardly carry waste into the public trash can in the women’s restroom, and I felt really uncomfortable,” the professor said.
“I had reproductive cancer, and I’m going to be bleeding for the next three months as a result of the surgery I had to get,” she continued. “I’m constantly running around for tampons on campus and I’m frequently running to the restroom in between classes, and it’s problematic that I don’t have some kind of receptacle to toss waste products in. It’s a basic thing that people may regard as trivial, but at the end of the day, it isn’t. I have to go teach a class. We all have to do our jobs.”
Beyond the basic needs of the female community members, it also is a matter of how our school tackles the faith, reason and justice pillars of our mission.
“Jesus was taught that all people are equal and deserve dignity and respect. He showed how we ought to practice compassion, heal the sick, subvert racism and even promote women. Jesus was pretty into that. So the fact that Eastern University is not acknowledging this pretty gaping discrepancy is fundamentally antithetical to what it advocates,” the professor said.
In order to make progress on this front, the university needs to hear from more students about the issue. Currently, Westmoreland has been meeting with many administrators about the topic and has received positive feedback about “how much benefit this could be to Eastern students.”
“So far the reach of the student involvement only involves those in Student Government and around two dozen that signed a petition showing support,” Westmoreland said. “This is my petition to all students of Eastern University to stand up and talk about this issue more with professors, staff and administrators that you know. The first step in solving any problem is to have open and clear conversations about it.”
Westmoreland has been involved in the Eagles Essentials project for the past year, getting crucial funding for the university and setting up the food pantries in all of the dorms over the summer. She believes that the university could receive supplies through this same project.
“Earlier this fall, we reapplied for a grant named Swipe Out Hunger. This grant was used last financial year to support Eagles Essentials, our food and hygiene support program here at Eastern. However this application cycle we reapplied for the $6000 grant to be designed for the feminine hygiene dispensers,” Westmoreland said.
The next thing for the community to do is stay involved in the conversation moving forward.
“Student Government is looking for more feedback from the student body. We look forward to host[ing] town halls, student round tables, senate events, and collaborating with clubs this coming year!” Westmoreland said.
Josh Steen 
Savana Dodd