The Alt Black

Meet Alexander Freeman, he is a rising junior at Morgan State University. Alexander, or Alex as he is known by his friends, has spent his summer bringing light to an important social issue. The lack of feminine products that are readily available for female students. According to studyinternational.com, women are outnumbering men at a record high in universities worldwide. This is also the case at Morgan State, recent statistics have shown that Morgan State has a total of 7,712 students. Of those students 3,405 are males, and 4,307 are female. According to an article from rewirenews.com, 85 percent of colleges in the United States distribute free condoms somewhere on campus.

But when it comes to feminine products being readily available for feminine products that data isn’t as favorable. A 2016 article from Newsweek reported that Brown University is one of the first Universities to address this need for their female population. Following a think tank conversation with a friend, Alex took action and created a change in his community.

How did you go about finding that this was a social issue?

My friend and I have what we call a “Think Tank”- here we brainstorm ideas on ways to better improve our community (specifically Baltimore High Schools  and Morgan State University), he came up with his ideas and I came up with mine. This idea derived from issues that were brought to my attention my freshman year when several students mistook me for the Freshmen Class President.

What is your reasoning for starting this drive?

Initially it was to raise awareness and to simply buy and hand out feminine hygiene products to random students. But as time went on, the Initiative became more organized and complex.

Is there an event in your life that caused you to begin a feminine products drive?

Not necessarily, my original idea that I was going to focus more attention on was a scholarship fund for Baltimore City High School Seniors (that will be attending Morgan State University). Due to time constraints, I put all my attention towards this project because of the impact it’ll have on our campus and simply because this should be common sense- these items should be provided just as condoms are.

Is this a solo project, or are you a part of an organization?

This began as  a solo project, but as the spread of the initiative increased, organizations on campus such as Afros of MSU and EVOLVE, just to name a few- began to partner up with me to help spread awareness.

Why do you find it important to give back to your community?

Whether you like to admit it or not, your community ALWAYS gives to you. The ways it does this comes in many forms- whether it be a negative experience, a positive one or even a learning experience, there is always something to take away from it. For these reasons, I believe in and love the idea of community service. The issues we tackle or attempt to tackle become a ripple effect, either we accomplish them and others become inspired to take charge on other projects or we attempt to give back but “fail” and others pick up where we left off at.

How do you plan to distribute the products once you reach your goal?

I would love to work with the office of Residential Life & Housing to have the front desk be in charge of distribution. A student would fill out an online form- “Request Form” and an email would be sent to them of what time to pick up the item from their Residence Hall’s front desk. If this isn’t possible then I’ll still use the “Request Form” and happily deliver these myself and or with the help of members from the organization’s I’ve partnered with.

Do you plan on creating more drives in the future?

 Of course, my next project may most likely be the Scholarship for Baltimore City High School Seniors that have been accepted into Morgan State University. But if another idea comes to mind then it too shall be tackled.

What are you hoping to achieve by this drive?

1. Raising awareness of the gender biases in higher education.
2. Unison amongst the organizations  should be highlighted. Many times we speak on how organizations don’t have unity, but to come together as one for the common good? Now that’s unison in its truest form.
3. To highlight the lack of support women on this campus have when it comes to issues such as this one- therefore it should become a mandate at our university.