Emily Sheperd
Contributing Writer
A new family room was added to the Women’s Center for pregnant and parenting students, faculty and staff.
“This room is meant to be a supportive and comfortable space for parents and their children,” said Tanya Romero-Gonzalez, assistant professor of Spanish, global languages coordinator and chair of the campus lactation/parenting room committee.
This room provides a space for individuals with lactation needs. To ensure comfort, the Women’s Center has ordered new hospital-grade furniture for the room including armchairs, a table and chairs. The faculty also supplied the room with children’s books and small toys.
Diane Nititham, associate professor of sociology and president of the Women’s Faculty Caucus, organized a book and toy drive to which several items were donated for this space.
Until now, there hasn’t been an on-campus space specifically designed for pregnant or lactating students. This room is a readily available space that can serve different purposes.
“While parents may use it [the multipurpose room] as a lactation space or as a feeding room, it’s really a multi-purpose room where parents could spend some time with their children on campus as needed,” Romero-Gonzalez said.
This new space is supporting student and faculty parents specifically, so they know they are welcome on campus.
“Full-time lactating parents who work for the university can ask for accommodations to express milk, but having a designated space promotes a family-friendly atmosphere,” Romero-Gonzalez said.
During the 2018-19 academic year, the Faculty Senate, the Insurance and Benefits Committee and the Women’s Faculty Caucus discussed the lack of lactation spaces on campus.
“In 2018, the WFC presented an evidence-based petition to the Insurance and Benefits Committee that outlined the benefits of having lactation rooms available: an increase in quality research, student work, retention, to name a few,” Romero-Gonzalez said.
From that discussion, the Women’s Faculty Caucus started the plan to have the new women’s room available beginning in the spring semester of 2020.
Romero-Gonzalez said the Women’s Faculty Caucus has been advocating for the creation of a Lactation Room on campus for several years.
“I decided to approach the Women’s Faculty Caucus for input on a multipurpose space in the Women’s Center to benefit pregnant and parenting students,” said Abigail Cox, Women’s Center coordinator.
Another contributor of the new women’s room was Giavonna Morris, a graduate fellow in the Office of Multicultural Initiatives. Morris expressed her desire to develop more support for pregnant and parenting students on campus when she was developing a support group.
The next addition to the family room will be a refrigerator with lockable storage.
“This will allow lactating mothers to securely store supplies in the room,” Cox said. “This is an ongoing project. We hope to improve each semester with feedback from our pregnant and parenting campus members.”
The Women’s Center is accepting donations in the form of mini-refrigerators to add to the room.
The new family room is located inside the Women’s Center, Room C102 in the Oakley Applied Science Building. It is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
