Students: SU Pad Dispensers a Plus

by: Leila Abdellatif
@leilayasser101

After a long drawn-out process, the Student Union (SU) Service Committee announced on March 1 that it is now providing sanitary pads through dispensers installed in women’s restrooms around campus.

“We have been trying to implement the project since last Fall [2021], but it was a long process of about four or five months – physical implementation on campus, however, took about six weeks,” Youssef Ashraf, the SU project manager, told The Caravan.

The dispensers, which can be found at BEC, SSE, HUSS, CORE, and PVA, offer different types of pads for EGP 1 only.

Ashraf added that the project aims to make sanitary pads accessible and affordable to all women on campus.

The project was inspired by the needs of the student body as students would frequently visit the SU Help Desk in hopes of finding sanitary pads when in need.

“I think it is essential to provide sanitary pads. This shouldn’t only be an initiative at AUC, but across Egypt as a whole and in public areas such as malls,” added Ashraf.

The project came into fruition through multiple collaborations and planning with the Office of Student Life (OSL), which bridges between the student body and the university’s administration.

“The project was based on surveys carried [out] by the Student Union in collaboration with the OSL in order to accurately cater [to] the needs of students,” Ibrahim Bedrous, Associate Director of Student Organizations and Services at the OSL, told The Caravan.

Bedrous added that the surveying process involved two stages: the first addressed general student needs on campus, while the other had a micro approach to the specific pad dispenser project targeting females on campus.

The project went through multiple stages such as getting approval for the initiative, contacting the departments involved, and ensuring safety and security on campus.

The SU initiative, which was announced on different social media platforms, has gained considerable support from the student body.

“I think this is a great initiative that normalizes periods – as a PVA student where the majority of us are girls, it is of great help,” Hana Iskandar, a Theatre junior, said.

Other students like Marketing junior Nada Shawki said that the project is a very positive development as it betters the environment of AUC as an institution.

“I used the dispenser recently. It was easy, convenient and overall an amazing experience to see that there’s finally a service like this on campus,” Farida Amin, a Computer Science junior, said.

The project is a collaboration with the dispensers company Agora, which also provides food dispensers at the student residences on campus.