Maybe Colorado School of Mines should try this. From Newsweek:
Let me improve that…
“Not all people who menstruate self-identify as women.”
I wonder about the logistics. Are these 20 students going to keep supplying the bathrooms? Why doesn’t the university’s maintenance crew handle it (if it’s getting funding from student government). Of course, maybe it’s just grandstanding…
Nguyen also says “Low-income students struggle with having the necessary funding for food, let alone tampons.” Doesn’t Brown’s generous meet full need aid include a meal plan? Are low income students really struggling to get enough to eat there?
If it’s just a matter of cost, wouldn’t it be far more cost effective to allow low income students on aid to request an additional $35 to cover these supplies for the year?
I don’t see the big deal. Who cares? I’ve worked for employers who provide free menstrual products in their bathrooms. I’ve been to restaurants who do the same. It’s a nice gesture. Employers and schools provide free toilet paper and paper towels. Many employers provide free coffee/tea and often much more. Most colleges provide free condoms. Why not menstrual products? They are a necessity after all.
Sure, it would be nice if it were universally accepted that these items should be provided in rest rooms so that women could stop hauling them around, just like in this country we expect that we don’t need to bring our own toilet paper into the bathroom.
My objection was to the statement that Brown students were having to choose between the necessities of eating and sanitary supplies.
General FYI re: cost - $35/ year isn’t even close. A box of my preferred brand of tampons costs around $8 at my local grocery store. Pads are another $6 or so. Minimum $15/month given that one tends to mix and match sizes & absorbencies in any given cycle. Plus Advil, thank you very much!
$35 a year? I want to know where s/he’s shopping! I haven’t had to buy tampons in several years but I doubt very much the price has dropped to those levels.
The article says it’s going to all non-residential bathrooms. Even with generous aid policies, the self-help portion of funding can be a big stretch for low income students. Many students move off campus to save money so that could be where the needing to choose between food and tampons come in.
Or, they could be referring to low income students not at Brown. (It was unclear to me from the article.)
@romanigypsyeyes Preach it, Sister! 
@mathyone I don’t think that just because it is a legit need, low income students can request an additional $35 and receive it.
I have a friend in college coming from extreme poverty. Yes, she gets a lot of aid which include loans (that will severely impact her job options upon graduation), and workstudy. Plus she works off campus in addition for an insane number of hours to pay for things like books, and yes, tampons. And she occasionally sends some of her paycheck home so her sisters can eat.
I’m also not sure where you are getting the $35 figure from. That certainly wouldn’t supply me for a year.
There absolutely are students choosing between eating and sanitary supplies. Not many maybe and I couldn’t say about Brown or any other school in particular but no where is it easy for extremely low income kids to make it through college. The deck is stacked against these kids.
I don’t know how financial aid affects students who live off campus. Does the school short the students on their food expenses if they live off campus? Considering they would get enough to eat on campus, it doesn’t seem like much of a savings.
Wow. All right ladies. First, each semester runs 3.5 months, 7 months in the school year. Is Brown also supposed to mail students on aid food and toilet paper over the summer in addition to the tampons?
I don’t buy in grocery stores, they price gouge and I couldn’t say how much they are charging. My off the cuff estimate was based upon 25-35 tampons per month which should be sufficient for most women and which if you shop at Walmart or check Amazon, you can obtain some of the better deals within this budget at 10-13 cents each.
Huh?
By the same logic: Brown doesn’t feed students in the summer, so should they not provide food during the school year?
For low income students, EVERY LITTLE BIT helps.
You all were complaining that you spend more per year than my estimate for the cost to students of sanitary supplies during the school year. The only sense I can make of these complaints is that you believe that Brown should also be paying for food and sanitary supplies year round, not just during the term.
My point is that the most cost-effective way to help students with their sanitary expenses would be to provide a supplement for this purpose. If the school buys them and distributes them to students of all incomes, that’s going to cost more. I’d rather see the money going where it’s needed, but I guess everyone is going to attack me for this.
you okay with everyone getting free TP, @mathyone, or should we all start hauling that around with us as well along with paper towels and hand soap??
Seriously?
“Sure, it would be nice if it were universally accepted that these items should be provided in rest rooms so that women could stop hauling them around, just like in this country we expect that we don’t need to bring our own toilet paper into the bathroom.”#4
Indeed. I think only needy students should get TP and hand soap. Everyone else can afford it, why are we subsidizing them? [/sarcasm]
Well, you did say this: “I’d rather see the money going where it’s needed”
A good chunk of the population NEEDs these products. They aren’t optional despite the fact we’ve always bought them and often pay taxes on it as well. Hmmm, maybe we should just stop using them for a month or two and see how well that will go over…
MODERATOR’S NOTE: Another thread going around in circles. Closing it.
Besides @mathyone you are the one whose thinking seems illogical to me. So according to you, it is all or nothing. If you can’t get a 100% discount on something, then any discount at all is not useful. That is exactly what you are saying if you think that because someone gets an expense break 8-9 months of the year, the fact that they don’t the other 3-4 months somehow negates the whole thing. Show me the logic there.
But on the whole, as to this entire thread, I would say it falls under the old phrase of “choose your battles”. As many have pointed out, supplying such products (and condoms and other traditionally very personal products) is not so unusual, and in the grand scheme of things is low cost. Perhaps with a university’s buying power, $35 per year per student isn’t so far off, but even if twice or three times that, so what? Certainly a school like Brown can afford it. Seems like a silly argument to pick to me.