Universities Weblog

They have a beautiful campus, excellent professors, and some of the best learning opportunities in the entire world, but there is one thing Yale students didn't have: soap in the dormitory bathrooms.

After a decade of intense lobbying and fund-raising appeals, victory has been realized: Yale's 'Soap Committee' has succeeded in obtaining that long-elusive soap.

From MSNBC.com:

At a school where students have demanded and won financial aid reform and divestment from oppressive countries, calls for liquid soap dispensers went unanswered for years. Even after Yale agreed to stock two-ply toilet paper in the mid-1990s, administrators wouldn't budge on the soap issue.

Mainly they cited the cost of keeping the dispensers stocked – more than $100,000 a year.

"It seems like a lot of money, but the school has a $12.6 billion endowment," said junior Steven Engler, a member of the Yale student government and head of its soap committee. "Soap is just a basic necessity. All the other Ivies provide soap." (Actually, Yale's endowment is now up to about $15.7 billion.)

This month, however, the 305-year-old university put hand soap on an experimental basis in three of the school's 12 residential colleges, as Yale's dormitories are known. If the experiment proves affordable, soap could become available campuswide next year, said Yale Facilities Director Eric Uscinski.Wow, who knew liquid soap cost so much? No wonder it takes so long for businesses to restock it once it runs out!

This is a nice reminder that no matter how 'minor' the goal seems, much can be accomplished when students band together to improve their campus.

Have you ever been part of a movement like this? Please share your experiences in the Comments section!

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