By: Grace Gross, Lead Editor
Photography by Grace Gross
In a dozen campus restrooms, you can find evidence of McKendree Young Feminists’ newest project. McKendree Young Feminists is a student-run organization that was reactivated in the spring of 2024. Dr. Brenda Boudreau and Dr. Shelly Lemons oversee the student organization as its faculty advisors. Karina Modesto is president this semester, while I, Grace Gross, serve as vice president. Since restarting the McKendree Young Feminists, we have had three main goals in mind.
The first goal is to educate the student population about feminism. To some people, the word often carries a negative connotation, such as when the media use it. One way we educated students and faculty about feminism was at our table at the fall involvement fair where we invited people to participate in an activity called “What is/is not Feminism?”
Our second goal is to create a welcoming environment at McKendree by spreading positivity and love. At one of our very first meetings, we heard from students, faculty and staff about how the campus could improve in these sorts of ways.
Our third main goal is to provide support for marginalized groups and individuals on campus. Starting strong, McKendree Young Feminists began the Period Project to accomplish this goal.
The Period Project’s goal is to provide all of the main restrooms on the McKendree campus with free menstrual supplies, like pads and tampons. This endeavor took a lot of planning and organization. However, thanks to Dr. Joni Bastain, Reverend Beverly Wilkes-Null and numerous faculty, we were able to collect plenty of period products. These donations have been placed in baskets and dispersed around many bathrooms on campus!
The rest of these baskets can be found in the following areas: Carnegie Hall third floor all-gender restroom, Old Main first floor women’s restroom, 1828 women’s restroom, Clark Hall’s first and third-floor women’s restrooms, Piper Academic Center’s first and second-floor women’s restrooms, Ames Dining Hall all-gender restroom, Holman Library bottom and second-floor women’s restrooms and the newly renovated Lair women’s restroom.
In addition, McKendree’s Health Services and Bearcat Pantry are well-supplied with period products that can be accessed during normal school hours.
Anyone and everyone is welcome to join McKendree Young Feminists! By following our Instagram @mckyoungfeminists you can stay up to date with our meetings and future projects.
