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Dear ESF Campus Community,
Over winter break, the Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity
Committee worked with the Facilities Department to provide free menstrual
products in every restroom on campus. These products have previously been
available in women’s restrooms, but have now been placed in men’s and
all-gender restrooms as well. A list of locations of women’s, all-gender,
single-occupant, and accessible restrooms is available from the ESF Women’s
Caucus: https://www.esf.edu/womenscaucus/documents/bathrooms.pdf.
The reasoning behind placing menstrual products in all
restrooms is simple: there are people on our campus who find themselves in need
of these products, and they should have easy access to them. The Gender
Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) states that all restrooms may be used
by any person regardless of gender identity or expression. Women are not the
only people who menstruate, and people of all genders should be able to access
menstrual health products in any restroom they enter. The products are in
small bins with lids, and can be easily avoided by those who are not in need of
them.
One question that has been posed to the Committee is whether
these products should be limited to the all-gender restrooms on campus.
All-gender restrooms are very limited on campus; some buildings don’t have any,
or lack quickly navigable paths to those in other buildings. Timing
access to these products when needed for ¼ of each month can be a
challenge. If any period is extra heavy, or a person also has a mobility
challenge or an extra time constrained schedule, the difficulty to reach an
all-gender restroom would be far greater. Many folks who menstruate have
preferred products and will only be using what’s in the baskets when they don’t
have time or funds to get what works best for them. Lacking access to these
products can negatively impact access to education and to work.
The IDE Committee is proud to be part of this initiative to
promote equitable access to necessary health products for our entire campus community.
For more information on this and other inclusion, diversity,
and equity initiatives, please visit www.esf.edu/ide. Additional
information and resources regarding GENDA can be found via the New York Transgender
Advocacy Group website at https://www.nytag.org/genda.
Any questions, concerns, or ideas can be addressed to Dr. Lizette Rivera,
Director of Student Inclusion Initiatives at lrivera@esf.edu.
Best,
Kerrie Findlay (she/her/hers)
Coordinator of Education Abroad
Office of International Education
SUNY College of Environmental
Science and Forestry
9 Old Greenhouse · 1 Forestry Drive · Syracuse, NY
13210
P: +1-315-470-4903 · F: +1-315-470-6978
