Tucked away in the Jewett basement is a closet full of pads, tampons and other period products. Marked by a paper sign, this is the Project Period headquarters.
First launched in April 2017, Project Period is the Vassar Student Association (VSA) initiative that funds and distributes free pads and tampons to the Vassar College student body. Projects like these have become increasingly common across college campuses in the past decade as the result of a national movement with the slogan “If condoms are free, why aren’t tampons?” Vassar joined this attempt to combat period inequity and started putting out little clear boxes filled with pads in tampons in bathrooms across campus.
Access to necessary period products remains a pertinent issue for students across the nation. A survey commissioned by Thinx & PERIOD in 2025 found that nearly a quarter of surveyed teens struggled to afford period products. Similarly, a survey conducted in 2019 found that 14.6 percent of menstruating college students in the United States struggled to afford period products at some point in the past year, and 10 percent experienced period poverty monthly.
Vassar first-years Samari Nedderman and Yaritza Reyes Contreras are employed by the VSA to keep every bathroom stocked. From the Rockefeller Hall basement to the Athletic and Fitness Center’s (AFC) locker rooms and even the dorms’ laundry rooms, there are over 30 places to restock. “Before, when I was doing academic and dorm buildings [on the same day],” Nedderman explained, “I could start at 11 a.m. and wouldn’t finish till like 4 p.m.”
Navigating the job in the first weeks of school while also being new to campus was tricky, Nedderman shared, but the rewarding nature of the job was felt immediately as well. After trekking up to the AFC for the first time, she was met with enthusiasm from the people running the front desk: “ She was like: ‘Oh my gosh, thank you! We’ve been waiting to get the dispenser filled up. The girls use it a lot.’” Their appreciation and excitement made Nedderman feel like she was making a real impact.
“In my old [high] school, we didn’t have access to pads like that. We had the dispensers, but they were never filled,” Nedderman explained. “I thought this was something I could do to make a change.”
Despite the fact that access to menstrual products remains a rampant issue for students, experiences like these are common. Only 20 states have mandated that public schools provide period products, and less than 10 of them provide funding for said products. New York State, for example, mandates schools to provide free products but does not set aside the funding necessary for a project of this size, a legislative discrepancy that results in empty pad and tampon dispensers across the state. Moreover, California and New York, as of now, are the only states that mandate public colleges to provide free menstrual products.
Lack of access to proper health care can affect menstruators’ emotional and physical well-being. The same 2019 study conducted by George Mason University found that undergraduate students who experienced period poverty were more likely to be depressed. Moreover, inaccessibility to this healthcare is often linked to declining academic performance in both high school and collegiate settings. Without the proper care, menstruating becomes a financial, emotional and physical burden—one that disproportionally affects low-income students.
Nedderman shared that, more often than not, the boxes and dispensaries are empty within two weeks. “I know people are using it. I know there’s a need for it,” she said. “That motivates me.”
I, along with many other students, have often relied on the pads in the bathrooms. The bin in the Sanders Classroom has saved me from certain doom on many occasions. So thank you, Samari and Yaritza!
The bathroom dispensers and clear boxes are not the only places to access free period products on campus. Students can also get free tampons and pads, along with other reproductive care products, contraception and over-the-counter pain medications, in the VSafe vending machine in the Old Bookstore in the College Center. These resources are all completely free of charge.
When your cycle catches you off guard in class, or you are low on cash for pads—thanks to the work of Nedderman, Contreras and the VSA—there is a place on campus for you to go.