Ohio University Student Senate will vote to fund the "Take a Tampon, Leave a Tampon" initiative at its meeting Wednesday night.
If the resolution passes, it would be the first of its kind among universities in Ohio.
The resolution calls for senate to allocate 8.5 percent of its starting budget to provide free menstrual products in OU bathrooms.
East Green Senator Madison Sloat said that translates to around $1,850 per year to fund the project.
Sloat, a primary sponsor of the bill, is the founder of the Period Project, an initiative to provide free menstrual products for students in need. Sloat said she has been working on this initiative for nearly two years.
“It has the potential to make a real impact on a lot of students,” Sloat said. “It’s an opportunity for us to make that headline for OU and get positive recognition as a role model in the state.”
The resolution, if it passes, would be institutionalized so that it applies to senates for years to come, Sloat said.
According to the resolution, nearly two-thirds of respondents in a recent survey by the Senate’s Women Affairs Commission said their performance in school or work has been affected by not having menstrual products when they needed them.
In the same survey, 96 percent of respondents said free menstrual products in university bathrooms would positively affect their health and well-being.
Hannah Burke, the other primary sponsor of the bill, said she thinks the resolution will pass.
“We had a survey we went off of that had over 600 responses,” Burke said. “Overwhelmingly, people wanted this.”
Aside from that resolution, senate will vote on 12 other resolutions.
Five of the resolutions will be voted on at once in a consent agenda. They include resolutions to amend the points system and Rules and Procedures.
The other resolutions concern internal matters, such as appointments and purchasing office supplies.
Senate will vote on three appointments.
If they pass, Anna Ayers will be appointed Chairperson and Zachary Reizes will be appointed Vice Chairperson of the Committee on the Budget. Madeline Baker will join the Off-Campus Life Commission and Jordyn Zimmerman will join the Minority Affairs Commission.
