Occidental’s Planned Parenthood Club is affiliated with the national organization of Planned Parenthood Generation Action which works to support college campus clubs partnered with local Planned Parenthood affiliates. The Club has a representative from Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley.
Lola Forbes-Black (sophomore), co-president of the Planned Parenthood club, said she joined the organization during her first year because it was an opportunity to normalize talking about periods, sex and women’s healthcare.
“Menstrual equity and sexual education are really important,” Forbes-Black said. “It’s something that a lot of folks aren’t learning about in middle school and high school.”
Forbes-Black said the club sees the current political climate as a reason to be more vocal, especially as access to reproductive healthcare varies.
“It definitely is a bigger time than ever to use our voices and remember that our voices can make a difference,” Forbes-Black said.
Forbes-Black said the club works to connect more Occidental students with Planned Parenthood, but she is aware students elsewhere do not have the same options.
“We are very lucky here in LA to still have the Planned Parenthood we had a few years ago, but obviously that’s not the same for people everywhere,” Forbes-Black said.
Forbes-Black said the club recently co-hosted a campus rally with the department of Gender, Women, & Sexuality Studies meant to show support for survivors of sexual assault.
“We are not going to continue to let institutions brush rape under the rug,” Forbes-Black said. “Here at Oxy, there’s a community that will support you and will hold this institution accountable.”
Lauren Harper (junior), a member of the executive board (e-board), said the Planned Parenthood club’s push for visibility is tied to national debates over abortion and birth control.
“Planned Parenthood needs a presence on this campus, so that’s why we’re trying to be louder,” Harper said.
Mallory Keenan (junior), another member of the e-board, said she is looking forward to the period party, which happens every spring.
“The period party [will] empower all people [who] have periods and anyone who just wants to come,” Keenan said. “There’s food, there’s little crafts, sometimes there’s speakers and [it is] a great way to end the year.”
Keenan said educating people about reproductive justice is especially important as access to reproductive health care continues to be debated.
“[The club is meant to advocate] for women and anyone who is passionate about reproductive justice,” Keenan said.
Keenan said the e-board, consisting of 13 members, meets every Thursday, while general meetings are every other week, with 65 students on the email list.
“We have weekly meetings where we talk about issues that are happening in the world and then also things we could bring up on campus,” Keenan said. “We [also] discuss events, ideas for events, and activities.”
Keenan said she was part of a club called Teen Council at her high school in Vashon, Washington. Keenan said she would go into town and teach sexual education.
“We would put together lessons and there [was] a peer-led group. We would go entertain members of the community,” Keenan said. “Then [we would educate] our peers and students on those things. We would also lobby for other justices.”
Keenan said she enjoys talking about the importance of consent and promoting it on college campuses.
“It was just really great to talk to a bunch of people about our different experiences learning about consent growing up and how we can make education better,” Keenan said.
According to Keenan, the Occidental Planned Parenthood club did political organizing last year to educate people about voting and upcoming propositions.
“[We did] phone banking, which involves software [that we] used to call people on lists and either asked them if they knew how to vote or we educated people on Prop 50,” Keenan said.
According to Harper, the club has a tabling event called Condoms on Friday, where they hand out reproductive and sexual products on campus every week.
“We make pouches, which have condoms, a note, candies [and] menstrual products, and we’ll hand those out on campus,” Harper said.
Harper said the club has changed how it collaborates with the local Planned Parenthood affiliate since last year, when the club was less active.
“[Last year] they used to just drop off the condoms and leave,” Harper said. “Now we’re trying to actually do more events and be more politically active.”
According to Keenan, a new representative from Planned Parenthood Pasadena, Julissa Salas, has made the club’s relationship stronger this year.
“In the past, [Planned Parenthood of Pasadena] has not really prioritized our relationship with them, but this year, they have a new rep, and she’s very excited to be involved with us specifically here,” Keenan said. “Now we’re trying to expand and involve everyone on campus.”
Contact Olivia Adams at oadams@oxy.edu
