In September, ASCMC launched an initiative providing free menstrual products across CMC.
Aunt Flow’s products are provided in women’s and gender-inclusive bathrooms across CMC.
Last month, after more than a year of advocacy, the Associated Students of Claremont McKenna College (ASCMC) began providing free menstrual pads and tampons for students ‘caught short’ in women’s and gender-inclusive bathrooms in residential lounges, the Hub, the Ath, Kravis, Bauer, Adams, Collins, and Roberts.
This academic year, ASCMC acquired $3,000 for this initiative from alumni, parents, and leftover dormitory budgets from the previous school year. The menstrual products are from the brand Aunt Flow, which partners with schools and businesses for similar initiatives. Kirby Kimball, a senior at CMC who spearheaded the initiative, chose Aunt Flow because of its 100% organic cotton products, inclusive language, discreetness, and charitable efforts towards alleviating period poverty.
Kimball was inspired to start the initiative on her orientation trip, when a student told her how they had to leave the Athenaeum early due to an unexpected period. “I found this story pretty upsetting and confusing, considering the myriad of resources CMC offers to its students...” Kimball wrote in an email to The Forum.
“I did hear [opposition] mostly from people who don’t have periods,” said ASCMC student-body president Ava Kopp. “I said ‘period’ a lot of times in Board of Trustees meetings, and I think some of the older male trustees were a little bit uncomfortable. But it was a positive conversation because we were being honest about de-stigmatizing general discussions on menstrual health.” Questions from trustees included: “Why does this need to be a campus-wide initiative?”, “Do you people really have trouble getting access to tampons?”, “Don’t you know when your period is going to start?”
ASCMC clarified that the initiative is not intended to replace students’ personal supplies of tampons and pads. “Please be mindful not to take more than necessary,” Kopp wrote in an email on September 25th when announcing the initiative to CMC students.
Each basket of menstrual products includes a QR code through which students can report low supply. Kopp is working with the college’s facilities team to ensure supplies are replenished weekly.
The initiative aimed to stock 60 bathrooms but due to budgetary constraints, stocks only 32. Next year, ASCMC plans to propose folding costs into the operating budget of the school (rather than through ASCMC), to expand locations with supplies and increase options in tampon absorbency.
In a national survey from Intimina, a reusable menstrual product company, 19% of female college students reported that they have “felt forced to decide between purchasing menstrual products and meeting other personal costs (paying bills, buying food, or any other mandatory expense).” Similarly, 48% of respondents struggled to access menstrual products for financial or other reasons. In an interview with The Forum, Kopp explained that low-income students at CMC face similar financial constraints.
When announcing the initiative, Kopp wrote to the student body that “providing period products near lounges and classes is about more than just convenience; it’s about fairness and health equity.”
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