Free menstrual products will be provided in all restrooms at Amarillo College while PTK works on getting new policies put in place.
By DAISY BURTON
Student Reporter
Phi Theta Kappa, Amarillo College’s honor society, has taken on a new cause–menstrual hygiene. The club has reached out to AC officials requesting that pads and tampons be readily available in all bathrooms on campus.
“Now that my officers have reached out to Physical Plant, our goal from there is to meet and talk about our goal and how we as PTK can help,” Miranda McHugh, student orientation coordinator and PTK sponsor, said.
The lack of tampons and pads in student restrooms is not a new issue for AC students and faculty.
Originally, menstrual products were available for purchase from dispensers in the women’s bathrooms, but these machines were permanently marked “out-of-order” due to high maintenance requirements and theft.
“We quit using the dispensers because people were breaking into them and stealing the change out of the dispensers,” said Jim Baca, Physical Plant director. “In turn, it was causing damage to the dispenser, and we had to order expensive replacement parts to try and repair the dispensers.”
So, in order to provide menstrual products to the students, faculty and staff, we started offering these products for free. We replaced the dispensers with baskets, and set them in the women’s restrooms.
PTK plans to work with an outside organization to keep a consistent supply of tampons and pads in campus restrooms.
“We will be contacting Aunt Flow, a business for supplying pads and tampons to businesses and schools, in order to have a long-lasting supply for staff and students,” Justine Priz, PTK president, said.
PTK also plans to put tampons and pads in all the restrooms on campus, not just the facilities labeled for women.
“Supplying menstrual products is very important because it gives accessibility to students who can’t afford these products at home, allows students to use these products in a crutch if they forgot their own and allows transgender or gender non-conforming students to use these products in their appropriate restrooms without feeling dysphoria or misplacement,” Priz said. “Supplying these products means providing comfort for students, which is a feeling that should be experienced when one sets foot on Amarillo College’s campuses.”
McHugh said PTK officers plan to meet with Physical Plant officials this fall, but the end goal is to have new policies implemented by the spring of 2023.
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