Pro-Palestine student groups across the U.S. have not been supported by university administrations. Instead, these groups have been faced with Islamophobia, censorship and blatant, violent hate crimes on their own campuses.
Stony Brook University’s (SBU) chapter of Planned Parenthood Generation Action (PPGA) is working to get Plan B, an emergency contraceptive (EC), into vending machines around campus. They have already made a big first step in their mission to provide access to EC — distributing free packages of it in person at their general body meetings and tabling events.
Despite the importance of their voices, college students historically have low voter turnout. To gain insight on how important it is for students to vote, we spoke with Ashley Mercado, the assistant director of the Center for Civic Justice at Stony Brook.
Stony Brook students are never expected to pay for their own personal toilet paper in residence halls or class buildings. As menstruation is another basic human function, there should be no cost for period products either. This disparity affects students’ physical, mental and emotional health, and puts a financial strain on students.