Senior Martina Pugh has built a résumé of impressive positions during her time at the University of Mary Washington. She’s served as a Student Alumni Ambassador and a Washington Guide, been a peer mentor, helped plan UMW’s ASPIRE Week as part of the Student Government Association and joined UMW’s NAACP chapter, Women of Color and the student-run service program, Community Outreach and Resources (COAR). As an intern with University Communications, she has created videos from her experience. Her series “Downtown Time” explores all the wonderful things Fredericksburg has to offer.
Most recently, Pugh added successful grant writer to her list of accolades. In the spring 2024 semester, she pursued a Fund for Mary Washington Impact Grant to ensure the campus community had access to menstrual supplies in public restrooms on campus.
“I had never applied for a grant before, but I realized that passion was all that it takes,” said Pugh, who for the past year has stocked donated menstrual products in baskets in buildings at UMW. The tampons and pads are tiny enough to fit in a purse or pocket, yet they’ve made a huge impact on her fellow students.
It’s linked to a larger issue, she said, citing a national study that shows that one in five college students has skipped a class due to lack of period products, which have increased in cost because of inflation. She wasn’t familiar with the term “period poverty” when she first came to the University of Mary Washington but learned of it through her involvement with the UMW Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Association.
Now the double major in communication and digital studies and philosophy: pre-law is using her knowledge to share what’s she’s learned, with the funding to back it up. Through a $4,000 Fund for Mary Washington Impact Grant, Pugh has found a more sustainable option to carry on the program after she graduates this spring. “It helped us achieve a long-term goal in such a short period of time,” she said.
Thanks to the grant, Pugh was able to purchase four new Aunt Flow machines and enough products to last the campus for the next year. Sleek, shiny and silver – and easily accessible for those with visual or physical impairments – the dispensers were installed over the summer by facilities operations in high-traffic buildings like the Cedric Rucker University Center, the Eagle’s Nest in Woodard Hall, the Hurley Convergence Center and the UMW Fitness Center.
Pugh, who has plans to work for a nonprofit before going to law school, said the Impact Grant experience improved her writing, research and public speaking skills. “Taking a simple idea and seeing it to fruition was so valuable.”
