Julia Cilleruelo Fernandez del Moral is on a mission. A junior studying energy engineering at IUPUI and an international student from Spain, Cilleruelo serves as the director of initiatives for the Undergraduate Student Government. With a student body exceeding 25,000, there is plenty of work to be done, but Cilleruelo is closing in on her top priority: the Menstrual Product Initiative (MPI).
In June 2020, Cilleruelo and USG began the MPI, and since then, she’s been busy gathering research, looking at data, meeting with administration and drumming up support. The end goal is to provide free menstrual products, such as pads and tampons, in all women’s and all-gender restrooms on campus.
Providing the products isn’t new to USG, as the executive team and senate have been working on providing them for the last two years, but Cilleruelo has noticed that the product distribution process is not sustainable from one leadership term to the next.
“It is now time to create a long-lasting program on campus that will meet student needs,” she said.
As of now, two campuses within IU -- IU Bloomington and IU Southeast -- provide free menstrual products in restrooms. At IUPUI, there are roughly 400 restrooms on campus, and Cilleruelo is prioritizing ones with the most foot traffic based on research she and USG have conducted. She is hoping to obtain the same dispensers and products used at the Bloomington campus and emulate the same model where custodial staff refills dispensers and the products are stored in the same storage units as toilet paper.
Cilleruelo thinks the initiative will tap into IUPUI’s strategic goals of promoting an inclusive campus environment. She cites an on-campus health assessment completed earlier this year that showed out of 1035 students surveyed, 70.2 percent of males agreed with the statement, “I feel that the campus climate encourages free and open discussion of students’ health and well-being,” versus only 59.9 percent of females surveyed.
“As the most diverse campus in the state, we need to make sure everyone who menstruates feels supported,” said Cilleruelo. “By having free menstrual products available, we are hoping to address that health disparity to make sure they feel like their health is also a priority at IUPUI. This initiative will not only help undergraduate students, but also graduate and professional students, staff and faculty.”
Cilleruelo has put boots on the ground over the past few months, speaking with several different departments on campus to gather feedback and support. She’s already spoken to Health and Wellness Promotion, Office for Women, IU Health HR Team, the LGTBQ+ Center and the Student Affairs Leadership Team. She’s also gained support from nearly 50 student organizations on campus.
While the initiative hasn’t been given the green light yet, Cilleruelo is continuing to gather support from her peers.
“In the last few weeks, I was able to train a committee of passionate individuals that are helping me with the Menstrual Product Initiative and are focusing on outreach,” said Cilleruelo. “We are currently gathering signatures to showcase the student support that the initiative has. After gathering enough signatures, the Menstrual Product Initiative will be presented to IUPUI administration and the Director of Finance with the needed additional information.”
Currently, 650 signatures have been collected with the goal to reach between 2,000 and 3,000. Of the 650 signatures, 83 percent are undergraduate students. There’s still work to be done, but Cilleruelo believes in the mission.
“All students deserve to have easy access to free menstrual products,” she said.
Students wishing to add their signature to the list can do so online. For more information on USG, follow the organization on social media (@iupuiusg) or visit its website.