BETHANY POWLS
Editor-in-Chief
With the surprising arrival of hygiene products now found in all women’s and unisex bathrooms on campus, Femcore kickstarted greater participation in the campus community. This tradition of stocking the bathrooms with hygiene products is a long-standing one for the organization in the spring. Femcore president-in-training Emil Benavides, first year student from Stockton, weighed in on the club that has been an active group at Bethel over the past decade.
“I think Femcore has lost its influence. I think a lot of people on campus either don't know or forgot that Femcore existed and if there isn't a presence on campus then there isn't an influence. Luckily, we're working towards changing that!” Benavides said.
With March quickly approaching, Femcore is right in the middle of planning for Women’s History Month, which is typically when the organization is most active.
“Right now we're currently brainstorming some ideas for Women's History Month. We are for sure planning a 'Build Your Own Bag' night towards the end of the month. We're receiving a lot of contraceptives, pregnancy tests, and other stuff like that and we're planning on inviting the student body to take what they need. There are also some collaborations with other organizations on campus that are currently in the works,” Benavides said.
The “Build Your Own Bag” event is also one that Femcore regularly hosts, and bags have included self-care products in addition to more hygiene supplies. This also functions as an outreach tool for the organization and helps raise awareness.
“Our strategy for boosting participation in Femcore is just planning a lot of events,” Benavides said.
Because campus participation in the group has declined over the past few years, new members are working to engage with potential new members. New members of the group remain enthusiastic about the organization’s progress.
“At a meeting, we were looking for ways to get our name out there and make some sort of impact on campus. Our president, Char, had said that they wanted to put pads and tampons in all the bathrooms on campus, so we took that idea and ran with it, adding some other necessities like lotion and spray deodorant. It was a lot of fun putting the kits together,” Benavides said.
