On Sept. 29, the Undergraduate Student Government at the University of Southern California passed a bill continuing its funding for the Period Pantry, which provides free menstrual care products across campus. Inventory includes pads, tampons, heating patches and hygiene kits.
“One of our commitments in USG is making sure that we don’t just leave projects that have happened in previous legislative years. So it’s really important to us that we continue this going forward,” said Senator Leilani Akwue, a senior political science and English double major.
The Period Pantry launched in November 2025 dedicating $910 to purchasing products. The pantry was a success heading into the spring semester but the Senate underestimated how quickly the resources would deplete.
In February 2026, USG passed new legislation increasing the budget for the pantry by $2,042 to accommodate for fast utilization rates. Funds were allocated to triple the amount of products previously provided.
One of the issues of the pantry in the spring semester was also visibility. Annenberg Media reported that some students were not even aware that the pantry existed.
“I think a lot of the issues a lot of people see with USG is visibility,” said Senator Posi Sulaimon. “So definitely printing out flyers, letting people know that resources are there in the Trojan food pantry and that it’s at King Hall.”
Awkue mentioned promoting the pantry on the Senate’s social media accounts as a means of spreading information and creating visibility.
“I believe that our Instagram is at over 10,000 followers right now. So in order to promote this period pantry, we’ll definitely go ahead and make sure that that is on our Instagram pages,” she said.
Awkue said the pantry is also something that she will continue to promote in her weekly update over the course of the semester and the Tuesday night meetings.
“I think it’s really just, like, making sure that students know about it, and some of the ways that that starts is social media, and then also, through our own USG department wide meetings, and org wide meetings,” she said.
Edited by Andriana Yatsyshyn