4A Opportunity Belief

I believe that there is an opportunity for the University of Florida to place free feminine products in more places throughout campus other than the Infirmary and Wellness Center. If the university is already giving out free condoms, then I don't see why they can't also give out free menstrual products. There has always been a need for menstrual products on campus and UF Student Government has proposed the bill,  but a vote has not allowed it to pass. Therefore, the opportunity is there since efforts have been made before to implement this.

For this, I interviewed three people about this matter. They are all female, and have the same stance as me on this issue

Person #1: The exact nature of this need (for women) is that they want to be comfortable while they are menstruating. Menstrual products are already very expensive, so it would give women a peace of mind if they're going to the bathroom and accidentally forgot to bring their pad or tampon with them, then they would be able to just grab a free one from the bathroom. Students on campus have proposed this issue and brought it to UF Student Government, however it did not pass.

Person #2: Being on a college campus, not many students have access to cars so it's difficult for females to make monthly trips to the store to buy menstrual products. Therefore, it is easier for college campuses to have free menstrual products around in case a student has difficulty trying to get outside of campus without a car.

Person #3: With UF having a well-known reputation for sports, they will be easily be able to sign contracts with female hygiene companies and buy their products in bulk to distribute to students on campus. In return, during UF's sports events they can advertise these countries which well help sell more of their product as well. Plus, they could place the hygiene products in the bathroom. Also, with the current system for female hygiene products being $.25 to purchase a pad in the bathroom, it is very inconvenient because many people don't carry change around, especially college kids. College kids don't even carry cash around they are mostly reliant on their debit/credit cards and apps such as Venmo to transfer their money.

I believe that the University of Florida can still continue to make efforts to make free menstrual products available to students on campus. Other schools are implementing this on their campuses already. Especially, if this matter has already been proposed to Student Government, then we have taken the right steps forward. We just need more students to be more dedicated to the cause and push for this kind of reform on our campus. This opportunity does exist because as a top 10 university, wre have a reputation to uphold. If many other universities, that are't even top 10 are able to offer this for their students then UF can too.