Crisis on campus: Men claim they are ‘basically oppressed’ by lack of urinals
By Skylar Mattson
On Monday, March 30th, St. Catherine University’s quad had a first in university history: A protest staged completely by male students.
What would the men who willingly choose to attend a university that prides itself on educating women to lead and influence have to protest about? The lack of men’s bathrooms across the university.
Although the unequal ratio of women’s to men’s bathrooms may be glaringly obvious to anyone walking the buildings of St. Kate’s campus, it has always been an unacknowledged observation. On Monday, a group of male students made sure to change that.
A group of 8 male graduate students walked out of their classes to take a stand against the shortage of men’s bathrooms across campus, a true overlooked injustice. Signs were carried that read things like, “We pay. We learn. We pee.” and “We won’t hold it, but we hold our administration accountable!”
The leader of the protest was a second-year physical therapy student, Ace Johnson. When asked what he would like university administration to know, he said, “No one considers the added stress male students face when they are trying to learn because they do not know where they can fulfill their basic human need of going to the bathroom.”
Another protestor, Tyler Abramson, recalled an uncomfortable experience that occurred during a five-minute learning break in one of his classes. “We were only given a five-minute break during one of our classes. I tend to stay away from using the bathroom during these breaks because all of my classes are in Fontbonne, where there is one men’s bathroom two floors up from where my class is. I knew if I went, I would never make it back to class in time, so I decided to hold it. This was a poor choice because now, my cohort knows me as the ‘Guy Who Peed His Pants.’”
Newly installed porta potty on the quad. (For legal reasons, this image is photoshopped.)
Head of St. Kate’s facilities, Teresa Sacks, released a statement on behalf of Facilities to the campus community that acknowledged the protestors’ concerns but had no plans for the installation of more men’s or gender neutral bathrooms in campus buildings. The timing of the protest worked out in the students’ favor because the facilities’ temporary solution, as we move into warmer weather is going to be placing porta potties on the quad for anyone’s use.
When asked about this solution from the facilities team, first-year physician assistant student, Jamison Smith, stated, “I am disappointed that porta potties on the quad are the solution being put into place because my classes are in Whitby, so I would only be more inconvenienced by walking to the quad to use the bathroom. Also, the dilemma will remain the same once fall rolls around, and the porta potties are gone. I never imagined myself in graduate school and wearing Depends, but that may just be what I need to do while this injustice remains.”
