When mass communication sophomore Macy McDade uses the women’s restroom in the LSU Library, she has to walk out of the stall to dispose of menstrual products.
She also notices small holes where the feminine hygiene disposal boxes should be displayed within the stalls.
McDade said the experience is embarrassing, and she hopes to see a change.
Of 574 buildings on LSU’s campus, 34 do not have feminine hygiene disposal boxes in women’s restrooms, according to the executive director of Facility and Property Oversight Tammy Millican.
Millican said that buildings such as Howe Russell, School of Music, Art Building, Allen Hall and LSU Library have women’s restrooms that lack at least one feminine hygiene disposal box in bathroom stalls.
Because LSU has 574 buildings with numerous restrooms, having only 34 buildings that lack feminine hygiene disposal boxes makes it manageable to fund these boxes, Millican said.
Facility Services has a budget to clean and maintain restrooms, Millican said, and consequently, there’s no dedicated funding to add feminine hygiene disposal containers to restrooms.
“However, when new buildings are constructed or major renovations to a building take place, these hygiene disposal containers are placed in the women’s restrooms,” Millican said.
She also said there are currently no work orders in the system from students, faculty or staff regarding the lack of feminine hygiene disposal containers.
Students, faculty and staff can contact the Facility Services Customer Service Center with concerns, and each building has a coordinator who can place work orders for issues within specific buildings, according to Millican.
She also said Student Government partners with Facility Services each year on several initiatives related to feminine hygiene disposal boxes, adding that funding for these boxes has been discussed before.
“Previous SG administrations have discussed the possibility of providing funding for these containers, and we look forward to resuming those conversations if this is an initiative they would like to pursue this year,” Millican said.
While only about 6% of women’s bathrooms on campus don’t have or are missing at least one feminine hygiene disposal box, it’s still a visible issue for female students on campus.
Political science sophomore and SG director of communications Emma Long said that SG has worked to supply feminine products in all restrooms through grants, but feminine hygiene disposal boxes haven’t been discussed.
Long said that Facility Services should be the ones who focus on placing feminine hygiene disposal boxes in bathrooms around campus.
“I feel that Student Government has to be a voice for students when disposal boxes should automatically provide by LSU Facilities,” Long said. “This should not be a Student Government initiative. It’s a basic necessity in women’s restrooms and the fact that this is an issue is a problem.”
Long said that eventually, SG will have to advocate for disposal boxes because of LSU Facility Services’ priorities.
“Student Government will have to have a hand in this issue,” Long said. “Things that are needed don’t get pushed very fast by LSU administration, and oftentimes it’s up to students to do that.”
Long said she believes there are men in positions of power at LSU facilities who don’t prioritize feminine hygiene disposal boxes.
“There’s a lot of men that are in positions of power in LSU Facilities who don’t advocate for feminine items in restrooms,” Long said. “It is only an issue for women. Men never had to think about the issue. These issues have not been addressed by LSU Facilities because it does not come up during meetings.”
Millican said that Facility Services doesn’t see feminine hygiene disposal boxes as less of a necessity.
“I don’t think there is anyone [within LSU Facility Services] that doesn’t think that feminine disposal boxes are unimportant,” Millican said. “I think the problem is that all of the restrooms have a large number of individual stalls. The sheer number of what you need can be a hindrance to getting enough funding to purchase enough of [feminine hygiene disposal boxes].”