The first day of Cklara Moradian’s internship was a heavy one. She sat in on a pregnancy counseling and watched a girl have one of the hardest conversations she may ever have. The girl explained that she didn’t have access to Plan B and that she had a bit of a difficult living situation.
As they discussed her options going forward, Moradian, a master of social work intern at the Klotz Student Health Center, felt she could be doing more to help people in unfortunate situations like this young girl.
Moradian and her adviser, Amy Reichbach, began discussing ways to prevent pregnancy rather than meeting with people after the fact.
As a result, CSUN has become the first CSU to have a Wellness Vending Machine which dispenses emergency contraceptive pills and other health-related items.
Moradian recognized the limited hours at the Klotz Student Health Center, and she and Reichbach wanted to provide more access to these much-needed items.
“This is not an abortion pill,” said Moradian. “It is legal and safe to use over the counter, and ultimately this is just another way to make sure students have power and resources to make decisions about their lives and their bodies.”
According to Shira Brown, director of the Women’s Resource Center who was part of the core team of the project, administrators and faculty across campus approved the vending machine because their job is to help better student academic success and they believe the wellness vending machine does that.
“An unwanted pregnancy can really interrupt one’s academic trajectory,” said Brown. “It’s all about serving our students’ needs, meeting them where they’re at, figuring out what is going to help them be successful, and knowing that no one is judging them. We’re all for your success and achieving your dreams and goals.”
According to Stephanie Barboza, the vice chair of the University Student Union, the wellness vending machine could help the community as well, because CSUN is a public campus and anyone who needs it can have access to it.
“I think that’s our duty as CSUN students and a CSUN community to help the youth of our community and anyone that we can,” said Barboza. “As students, we shouldn’t be paying $50 for a morning-after pill when we have the resources on campus to have it for cheaper.”
The Wellness Vending Machine located inside the USU Sol Center sells Tylenol, pads, tampons, condoms, lube, pregnancy tests and emergency contraceptive pills.
Everything in the vending machine is $5 aside from the emergency contraceptive pills are $25.
All items must be purchased with a credit or debit card, and the purchase will appear as “Fast Food” in the bank statement to protect the student’s privacy.
Corrections: We have corrected the prices of the items that are not the contraceptive pill.
