A treacherous journey of finding a place to relieve myself in the Columbia Business School.

Picture this: it is Wednesday, your busiest day of classes. You have been running to each of your classes, making sure you arrive on time, with only minutes in between. Whilst attending lecture, you make sure to hydrate yourself, striving to be the healthiest woman around. The only downside to this beautiful hydration is, of course, the inevitable need to pee.

As I had no time in between my courses, when I arrived at my astronomy lecture in Uris Hall, or Columbia’s business school building, I had to pee so badly I thought my bladder would burst. Thankfully, after checking the time, I still had another five minutes before class would begin. I ran out of my lecture room, located on the third floor, and traveled down the hall to a sign that read “bathrooms.” To my utter annoyance, it was a men’s bathroom. There was no women’s bathroom to be found.

Looking at my watch, I quickly determined that I could make it upstairs, pee, and come back down in time before class started. I ran the treacherous slope to the fourth floor, only to be met by a scary-looking office space that I was too intimidated to enter. I ran back down to the third floor, hoping I was mistaken and that there was actually a bathroom there. I didn’t know how much longer I could hold in my urine. After running around the hall, nearly breathless, I asked a group of students where the women’s bathroom is. They told me they didn’t think there was another women’s bathroom in the building besides the one by the lobby, on the first floor. Thankfully an elevator had just opened nearby, so I was able to take a ride down to relieve myself, but the entire journey was exhausting.

I was astonished that a Columbia University building, especially in the business building when it is a known fact that women often are marginalized in the business industry, would allow such inequality between the genders to be practiced. That night, I couldn’t stop thinking about my experience. I researched the Columbia website for floor plans and found that there is an email address for any questions about floor layouts. I contacted Columbia’s Facilities and Operations Department for access to the Uris Hall floor plan, but, alas, the reply was short: “We do not share floor plans.” Still, I wanted to further investigate this unbelievable claim that there is only one women’s bathroom on the first floor of the building.

The next time I found myself near Uris Hall, I toured the building in an attempt to find another women’s bathroom. Starting from the fourth floor, I combed each floor from corner to corner. I definitely got in enough cardio during that time period to last me a week! I was not going to let myself believe that Columbia’s business school only has one women’s bathroom in their building, while men could relieve themselves easily. To my satisfaction, dear readers, there was, in fact, a second women’s bathroom located all the way down the second floor.

While there indeed was a second women’s bathroom in Uris Hall, what most surprised me from this situation is the common acceptance of everyone when I relayed my struggle to them. Shouldn’t we fight for our right to pee? I wouldn’t be surprised if we surveyed the non-male Columbia student population to find that there is a significant amount of UTIs. Does Columbia not care about our urinary health? Don’t they know that holding in urine for too long can lead to infections or even kidney disease? I don’t know about you, but I would rather not have my bladder burst on campus.

As the owner of a functioning bladder, I declare we take a stand for more inclusive restrooms that are easier to be found. We need justice to pee freely!

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Uris via Bwarchives