Students Appreciate Free Condoms and Menstrual Items in University Bathrooms

By Gisselle Rueda, Skyline Reporter

ALPINE- In a new initiative this month, Sul Ross State University now provides condoms and feminine hygiene products in the men's and women's restrooms, a move that could be in part a response to the possible ban on all abortions in Texas.

Offering feminine hygiene products in all restrooms is an effort to give students flexibility to use the restroom of the gender with which they identify, Savannah Williamson, director of the University’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion, told the Skyline. “We wanted to make sure the baskets are inclusive and equal,” she told the Skyline.

The ODEI’s recent addition of free tampons and condoms also includes a “How to Use a Condom” pamphlet. These items were placed in small baskets in the restrooms of the University Center’s mall buildings.

The condoms and menstrual pads were quickly taken from the baskets. Williamson said that some of the baskets needed to be refilled in less than 24 hours. Currently, these baskets are only available in restrooms of the buildings accessible from the UC mall area. This initiative encompasses a little over 40 restrooms so far. The ODEI plans to expand and place these baskets within restrooms in other buildings across campus in order to accommodate more students.

This new availability of condoms and pamphlets from these baskets could possibly be linked to the US Supreme Court’s recent overturn of Roe V. Wade, a landmark decision that guaranteed the right of a women to have an abortion. The popularity of the new items supports the findings in a recent Skyline survey in which a majority of students said they intended to adhere to safe-sex guidelines to avoid an unwanted pregnancy.

The survey found that students’ sexual behaviors have changed as a result of the Court’s controversial decision, and that their attention towards preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases has increased. Most of the students reported increased anxiety over an unwanted pregnancy, and said they were more likely to use contraceptives. A few of the male participants said they might consider a vasectomy.

Some students interviewed for this article suggested the addition of female condoms and discussions on sexual health, which Williamson said is under consideration.