Earlier this month, UGBC began providing free laundry detergent and dryer sheets for freshmen in the laundry rooms in O’Connell House on Upper Campus, Keyes Hall on Newton Campus, and Messina South on Brookline Campus.
“We wanted to get free supplies for students who have emergencies, financial difficulties, or just don’t have access to those supplies and can’t run to the store on the weekends to get them,” said Jordan Doty, student senator and MCAS ’28.
Doty spearheaded the laundry supplies pilot program, focusing on freshmen who, she said, may have a harder time purchasing laundry supplies without cars.
“We’re going to try to get it spread out into all freshman dorms because those are students that have either limited resources or limited transportation,” Doty said.
Currently, the laundry supplies are only available in three freshman laundry rooms. Since the program is in its pilot stage, it has not yet expanded to all freshmen.
“I think a lot of it is just we’re at kind of the wait-and-see stage,” said Dorrie Siqueiros, director of residential education in the Office of Residential Life (ResLife). Hopefully, students are utilizing it, are aware of the intent of this project, and it will yield a better experience in the residence halls.”
According to Doty, UGBC is collecting data to assess how students are utilizing the laundry supplies and ensure they are being properly maintained and shared.
“We have Google Forms for students to fill out before they take laundry supplies to say what campus they are on, so we can see if the amount of students using it changes, what they’re taking, and any comments or concerns they have about the program,” Doty said.
Doty said UGBC is funding the pilot, but they are looking into collaborating with ResLife to fund the program in the long-term.
“We’re thinking of implementing this into all the campus dorms, laundry spaces, and what funding kind of looks like, if it’s a joint project where the funding is split up between ResLife and UGBC,” Doty said. “But for right now, it’s just UGBC-funded.”
Siqueiros and Doty both highlighted the quick launch of the pilot program. Doty mentioned that she began working on organizing and securing support for it last semester.
“I think that I’m most proud of the ability to have this done in a semester, which is not something that’s common on UGBC,” Doty said.
Loha Melton, MCAS ’28, values the program for providing a convenient solution to a common problem faced by students.
“I think it’s a nice addition, and it helps out the people that either forget their detergent or just don’t have any of them,” Melton said.
Amid the challenges of adjusting to college life, Doty said she hopes the program can provide a small but meaningful way to support students, particularly those facing financial constraints, and help fill in gaps in available resources.
“It’s just an additional way for us to help support them living on their own,” Doty said. “Because there’s support in a lot of other realms, but it just helps with their independence.”
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