UCSC: Free Menstrual Products

My fellow classmates and I recently discovered that UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, UCLA and even state schools such as Sacramento, all provide their students with essential feminine products and sadly UC Santa Cruz does not. With about 48% of our students being women that likely menstruated, we believe that feminine products just like toilet paper and seat covers are vital to basic health care necessities. It’s disappointing that with around 22,000 students who pay tuition and being federally funded, we are unable to consciously direct resources to such an important issue that greatly affects a woman’s daily life. We see that our school prioritizes sexual health such as condoms and contraceptives for ridiculously low prices; For example, 8 condoms for 1$. Although we appreciate this, it brings to our attention the fact that actively participating in sex is a choice, while mensuration is not. With this information, we question who is choosing where our funds are being dispersed and where UC Santa Cruz’s prioritizes are?