Photo courtesy of Maille Romulus '24. The Student Government Association has worked to put free menstrual products in certain bathrooms on campus and provide rides from hospitals.
Rebecca Gagnon ’23
Staff Writer
Free menstrual products are located in some bathrooms around the Mount Holyoke College campus for all to use and new job opportunities are available for student drivers to shuttle peers home from local hospitals. These are two substantial initiatives that the Student Government Association has introduced this school year, as of November 2022.
According to the SGA Embark page, the E-Board’s mission is “for all students to feel that their perspectives are represented by the SGA and that they can be active agents in shaping the Mount Holyoke community.” The organization tries to establish and execute this statement through its four pillars: shared governance, accountability, equity and inclusion, and accessibility.
“The SGA is … a conduit or a platform for student advocacy,” EJ Jankovic ’23, the chair of senate, explained. “It’s a great way for students who are having issues on campus or who run into issues, especially with senate, to bring those issues up and try and get them solved because a lot of people don’t necessarily know how to work with the administration or they don’t know specifically who to reach out to or who to ask [for help].”
“We definitely serve as the middle people between students and administration because we’re meeting with both of them and so we’re basically translating what administration is saying and what the students are saying,” Maille Romulus ’24, president of the SGA, added. “We’re just going back and forth, trying to find a solution.”
Both Romulus and Jankovic were elected onto the E-Board last semester to serve this academic year in the organization.
As the SGA president, Romulus is the co-chair of numerous committees and assists them as needed. In addition, she also sets the agenda for all organization meetings and takes into consideration any requests or statements that other members of the E-Board send her.
“I [also] meet with senior leaders, administration [and] the president,” Romulus expanded. “Often I get concerns from different parts of the community and I try to find out who … can solve these issues.”
Romulus emphasized that she has made it part of her overall mission as president to ensure that every member of the E-Board has an equal voice and tries to never allow her position or say to diminish anyone else’s.
“I don’t need to read every single email that people send out,” Romulus stated. “I want people to be able to do their job without me hovering over them.”
Another crucial part of the SGA is the senate. The Mount Holyoke senate allows overall representation of the student body.
“Every [residence] hall is [represented and] every org has the opportunity to have a representative,” Jankovic stated. “[We] sit [and] wait for those groups to bring issues to the attention of the SGA and to also discuss things, and then we also have commissions within the senate. So they can work on focused student advocacy for issues on campus.”
A few of these commissions are dining, environmental and sustainability, academic outreach and mental health outreach, all of which bring respective problems to the senate.
In addition to Romulus and Jankovic, the SGA elections last semester added many other students to the E-Board such as Ellie Ngoc Do ’25, serving as vice president; Serynn Nowlin ’25, who serves as chair of halls; Lillian Wade ’26, archivist; Shanthini Ragoonaden ’24, who is the chair of committees; Julia Keane ’25, sitting as public relations officer; Maahi Jaiswal ’24 as treasurer and Tahin Osborne ’23, serving as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion officer .
One new program that the SGA E-Board set up after hearing the community’s needs is the Lyons Lift initiative. “Lyons Lift is this new program that we’ve created,” Romulus explained. “We recognize that when people go to the hospital there’s no way for them to get back [and] no real system. … With Lyons Lift, the student will call, or anyone will call, the school and let them know that they’ve been discharged from the hospital and the school will contact a student that has applied to Lyons Lift and has a driver’s license and has a vehicle and they’ll go and pick that student up.”
“We recognize that when people go to the hospital there’s no way for them to get back and no real system. … With Lyons Lift, the student will call, or anyone will call, the school and let them know that they’ve been discharged from the hospital and the school will contact a student that has applied to Lyons Lift and has a driver’s license and has a vehicle and they’ll go and pick that student up.”
This program aims to allow students the ability to care for their health without concerns about how to return to campus. “It also takes a lot of weight off of international students and low-income students’ shoulders who may not necessarily know someone with a car and also underclassmen,” Jankovic added. “I feel like those are the three main groups that may not necessarily know someone with a car or may not be able to find someone [on] short notice to pick them up.”
In addition to relieving this type of stress, this new form of transportation also opens job opportunities for students who have access to a car on campus, and are licensed and fleet van certified.
Although it is only a pilot program at the moment, Lyons Lift is an initiative made possible by the assistance SGA had from numerous people and organizations. This program had been discussed by previous E-Boards before its launch this year.
Having free menstrual products in certain bathrooms around campus is another program that formed this year after having been in the works in the past. Romulus recalled that, even though they couldn’t be more thrilled with this new initiative, it was a long time coming and the process was exhausting.
“There’s the discussion part, there’s logistics and finding where the money comes from, [and] then researching the [menstrual product] company,” Romulus began. “So, which company are we going to work with? Are we going to work with a company who’s gonna refill the dispensers? Where are they gonna go? How much is it going to cost? Can we keep restocking them? Because if we can afford to buy the dispensers, can we afford to keep continuing buying the menstrual products to fill the dispensers? So, it was a really exhausting process, but we had a lot of help … especially [from Associate Director of Student Involvement] Jaime DeCaro.”
After many discussions and lots of planning, the SGA, in addition to Planned Parenthood Generation Action on campus, settled on a company, Aunt Flow, that they considered to be good for the environment. A handful of people tested their products from free samples to determine if they were suitable or not. Upon concluding that the products were effective, the two organizations moved forward with the plan and contacted facilities, who have been installing dispensers around campus.
The Blanchard Community Center’s third-floor gender-neutral and second-floor multiple-user women’s bathrooms, Kendall Sports and Dance Complex’s women’s and gender-neutral locker rooms, the Williston Memorial Library’s first-floor gender-neutral bathroom and fourth-floor multiple-user women’s restroom and Auxiliary Services 24-Hour Access have dispensers with free menstrual products.
“We’re hoping in future years to roll it out to more places but this is the start and then [it is] depending on usage and cost, … because it was expensive to get … everything installed and [buy] those up front,” Jankovic said.
However, these products are only to be used as needed and are not for long-term supply. If a student needs more, they can contact the PPGA which has an order form for free menstrual products for any student that needs them.
Romulus and Jankovic explained that the SGA is working on more initiatives and programs that they are hoping to introduce this year as well. Both students are very excited about what they’ve accomplished so far, with the help of their team, and are looking forward to introducing more initiatives.
“I knew what I wanted to happen,” Romulus commented. “I knew the projects that had been proposed prior to this current report and I was like, ‘I think we can do it.’ We can accomplish … the free menstrual products and Lyons Lift. … I feel good.”
“It’s just about wanting to make change and give back to the community,” Jankovic added.
For those looking to also get involved and make a difference, Jankovic emphasized that the easiest way to do so is through the senate.
“[Senate is held] once a week,” Jankovic stated. “It’s about 7:30 to 9 [p.m.], so it’s about an hour and a half on Tuesdays and it’s a great way to get more familiar with the SGA, a little bit more familiar with how it works, and also [to] keep updated with what’s happening on campus, both with concerns that are being brought up and also events.”
However, the senate is not the only way one may become involved with the SGA. There are also different committees that focus on different topics such as the International Student Organizing Committee. These organizations have a wide range of commitments so students may decide how much time they are willing to contribute and what issues they are passionate about.
“I also have office hours every Friday from 3 to 4 [p.m.],” Romulus added. “So if someone has specific questions on how you want to get involved with things like that, I’m available.”
Both Romulus and Jankovic emphasized the importance of working together as a community to create true change across campus. They both discussed how neither the Lyons Lift nor free menstrual products could have been possible without the help of their fellow E-Board members, other organizations and campus leaders contributing to ensure it happened. For them, being part of the College community was crucial to allowing the programs to soar.
“I think some people may not necessarily feel like they’re part of a community,” Jankovic finished. “I know I’ve heard that from some people before and I think [it’s] just remembering that we’re here for each other. Think about how many people hold the door for each other and just think [of] little things like that and remember you’re part of [a] community.”