UWM Bathroom Renovations Draw Criticism

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s beloved single-person bathrooms on the third floor of the Golda Meir Library are being renovated this semester. Remembered for the giant Al Gore graffiti on the door and the arm-to-arm walls, these bathrooms will not only be enlarged, but will remain inclusive to all students.

Aaron Dobbs, the library’s associate director for access services and operations, said the bathroom update was funded by UWM Advancement, and not a UWM Libraries project.

To many, the library bathrooms are not the only ones in need of a renovation. Cat Harper, a senior and graphic design major, was critical of the so-called inclusive bathrooms in Mitchell Hall.

“They’re just like sad excuses of inclusive bathrooms,” Harper said. “They just smacked an inclusive label on a men’s bathroom and didn’t take any necessary steps to making that space feel inclusive and safe for their students.”  

According to Harper, it’s a multi-stall situation that also includes urinals out in the open, with no type of divider between them. In contrast, Cat has taken a liking to the inclusive restrooms at the student union.

“I don’t wanna speak for everyone obviously, but we’ve seen that UWM understands what an inclusive bathroom is and what makes an inclusive bathroom,” added Harper.

The chemistry building, the newest addition to the UWM campus, opened its doors to students earlier this semester and was the first building to incorporate two gender-neutral bathrooms on every floor.

These bathrooms have doors that both lock and can be opened using a motion sensor, an aide for disabled students on campus, but there is no sign that tells students when they’re in use. Victoria Simpson, a microbiology student in her junior year, said the sensor overrides the locks on the doors, and opens even as students are using them. This malfunction was the root of an awkward encounter between Simpson and another student.

“I was like, ‘Oh my God, these are broken,’ but I really had to use the bathroom, so I was like, ‘I’m not taking any chances’ and went to the union bathrooms instead,” Simpson said. “The next day, there were signs on those gender-neutral bathrooms – big red letters saying, ‘Out of Order,’ and it’s been that way since.”

Amidst unhappy students, the LGBTQ+ Resource Center at UWM is preparing a presentation of data from a two-year long bathroom audit with the Chancellor Advisory Committee for LGBTQ+ Advocacy in January.  

The bathroom audit began as a student project in August 2022, but to Assistant Director Chelsey Tennis, it quickly became their pet project. Tennis finished analyzing the data and began presenting it in September.

“We did a campus-wide audit, not realizing how much of a lift it was going to be,” Tennis said. “We audited 60% of campus, and a lot was done but we still got a chunk that wasn’t done.”

The audit was run mostly by volunteers, who received training on how to use a Qualtrics survey. Some of the questions asked volunteers to look at the number of stalls, if things were broken or loose, and whether braille was present and correct on the signs.

Two years later, lack of menstruation products, accessibility, locating a bathroom and facility concerns like graffiti and cleanliness were the key areas of concern found throughout the audit.

LGBTQ+ Resource Center Director Arianna Myers and Tennis will be meeting with Institutional Planning Specialist Mike Priem.

“They really want to continue to provide clean and healthy and inclusive environment for students, staff and faculty,” added Tennis.

“We found that there are deserts for accessing menstrual hygiene products for trans masculine students,” Tennis said. “There’s barely any men’s restrooms that have feminine hygiene products.”

The LGBTQ+ Resource Center has since started providing free menstrual hygiene products. Any UWM student can walk in, grab what they need, and not have to say a word.

Additionally, the Chancellor Advisory Committee for LGBTQ+ Advocacy is looking into a project to bring more menstrual hygiene products to more bathrooms on campus.

“It’s been interesting to see how student advocacy really does make stuff work around UWM,” said Tennis.