Located just behind Barnes and Noble, the Women’s Center has been offering resources to the LSU community for nearly three decades, such as free period products and safe-sex supplies available at the front desk and provides free referrals.
For the past 10 years, Summer Steib has been the director of the Women’s Center. According to Steib, the Women’s Center was founded in 1995 and is funded by the university through allocated money.
The Women’s Center has been at its current location since the spring of 2013 and is one of the only free-standing women’s centers in the country.
The Women’s Center website states that they offer service in three main areas: programs and events, information and referrals and a workspace. They currently have multiple initiatives, with the period product initiative and safer sex initiative being two of their longest-running projects.
With the period product initiative, the center also offers free emergency hygiene supplies at locations across campus.
“A lot of students, particularly those that menstruate, have emergency situations that come up, and it can be a real obstacle and barrier to not have the supplies you need in those situations,” Steib said.
Students can come into the center and receive the supplies they need “at no cost, no questions asked.”
With the safer sex initiative, Steib says the center gives out safe sex supplies provided mostly by the Louisiana Department of Health.
The center also partners with LSU’s Pregnancy and Parenting program to maintain lactation spaces around campus and ensure they are regularly stocked. They also collaborate with campus and community groups to host programs and events.
The Women’s Center has multiple events planned for the upcoming semester, including a vigil in October for domestic violence awareness month to honor those who have lost their lives to domestic violence.
Advocacy efforts are a main goal of the center, specifically regarding gender equity.
“We know from research and experiences that we still have lots of work to be done around gender equity on campus,” Steib said. “Having a specific recognized unit that’s charged with looking at what those issues are, and then providing guidance around those issues, is one of the ways that we can hopefully come up with solutions… that mitigate those negative impacts.”
Daniela Chu-Rodriguez recently joined the staff as the assistant director of the Women’s Center and the LGBTQ+ project, which aims to create an inclusive environment for all students at LSU. The center plans to open an LGBTQ+ space on campus, set to open this fall. Together she and Steib run the center’s day-to-day operations along with help from student workers.
Chu-Rodriguez hopes to expand the Women’s Center’s advocacy efforts on campus.
“[We want] to keep innovating and closing gaps when it comes to gender equity on campus and in the community,” Chu-Rodriguez said. “[And] keep advocating for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives throughout campus, specifically those that are focused on gender and gender identity.”
Among the safe sex and menstrual hygiene supplies students can find at the Women’s Center are free condoms, lube, internal condoms, pads, tampons and non-latex condoms upon request. Chu-Rodriguez notes that students can take what they want without having to check-in.
“Come grab what you need – we’re always happy to be here for you,” Chu-Rodriguez said. “And if you need anything specifically and you don’t know where to go… please come to the center.”
While the center promotes many of its resources to students, Chu-Rodriguez emphasizes that the space is available for faculty and staff too.
“We focus mostly on offering resources and education, not only to the students but to the faculty, staff and the community… really we focus mostly on furthering initiatives for gender equity,” Chu-Rodriguez said.
Biological sciences junior, Mackenzie Weeks, is a student worker at the Women’s Center. She chose to work at the center because she wanted to help the LSU community and inform students about the space and what they offer.
“I think [the Women’s Center is] important so that people know that they have resources available to them for help whether it’s safe sex supplies or they need to reach out… for any kind of crisis they’re having,” Weeks said. “Just to know that they have a safe space here to talk.”
A sign denotes the Women’s Center on Sunday, Sept. 4, 2022, on Veterans Drive in Baton Rouge, La.
