When Trinity Monstwillo ‘26 made her way across the country from Oregon as an incoming student at Bates, she was anticipating the unexpected. But seeing another student hand-wash and hang dry their clothes to save the $3 that each on campus load of laundry cost wasn’t just unexpected. It was unwelcome. 

“It made me sad that he was hand-washing his clothes,” said Monstwillo. She’d perceived Bates as progressive. Why wasn’t laundry free, particularly for students on financial aid? “That would have been a great way to make the space more equitable.”

Before long, she realized that laundry mattered to a lot of students and she connected with Aleisha Martinez Sandoval ’26 of Mexico City on the issue. When they began asking questions to see if this change might happen, the two came to understand some of the challenges of simply making laundry free for the entire campus. Encouraged by Kim Trauceniek, senior associate dean of students for campus life, Monstwillo, a politics major, and Martinez Sandoval, a biochemistry and politics double major, continued to gather information. Eventually they created a proposal and prepared a presentation for senior leadership. 

“We got to learn a lot about Bates and just how many students pay full tuition, how many students don’t pay full tuition, and how we could potentially work out a plan,” said Martinez Sandoval. 

While their proposal was well-received and they appreciated being heard, they were told that free laundry was not possible. Laundry would continue to cost $3 a load through a contract with a third-party provider, CSC ServiceWorks.

But momentum continued to build around the issue. New students like Mohammad Zayd ’27, of the Bronx, N.Y., arrived on campus and experienced their own frustrations around laundry. When Martinez Sandoval returned from study abroad, she found that there was renewed energy around an issue. And she wanted to do what she could for the students who came after her.

“I am someone who is very grateful to the Bates financial aid department, just because I would have never been able to attend this school without it,” said Martinez Sandoval. She wanted to be sure the accessibility efforts were thorough and reflected student need. “I really wanted to bring those opportunities to other students.”

Zayd, a neuroscience major with a double minor in physics and chemistry, came to understand the context and complexity around this one issue, and when he ran for student government co-president with Zach Richards ’26 of Princeton, Mass., free laundry was on their minds.

“Free laundry matters because it addresses a fundamental need of all students,” said Richards, a politics and economics double major. “The price of laundry services has long been among the hidden costs of life at Bates, posing a financial barrier to the well-being of many students on campus.”

Zayd and Richards reached out to Monstwillo and Martinez Sandoval to see what could be learned from their initial outreach. The four students began working together to see what might have been missing. They deepened their research, they clarified their arguments, and they tried again. 

The new proposal offered three tiers for senior leadership to consider: free laundry for those with an estimated family contribution of less than $15K, free laundry for Pell-grant eligible students (and international students with similar financial needs), and free laundry for those on full aid. They gave their presentation and shared their proposal and this time, the answer was yes. Free laundry for all Bates students.

“This milestone is the result of a great collaborative effort with our student government leaders, whose dedication and partnership were instrumental in making this a reality,” said Rosanna Ferro, vice president for student affairs. “It presents a wonderful opportunity for us to remove a practical daily barrier and continue building a more supportive campus environment where every Bobcat can thrive.” 

Bates students will certainly feel the impact of this decision in $3 increments across future semesters. The success of this work will also linger for those involved in this collaboration. 

“I’m really proud of my assembly and the executive board,” Zayd said. “I’m really proud of the research that was put into it. I think it’s going to be a very beneficial thing for all of us.” 

Martinez Sandoval, Monstwillo, and Richards got the news just as they were about to graduate. It was a good note to end on, and to carry forward. “Something that I will definitely take with me is the ability to communicate with different groups of people for a shared common purpose,” said Martinez Sandoval. Another takeaway, even though she knows it to be kind of a cliché, is that “good things take time.” 

The experience was intended for the public good but for Monstwillo, there was a personal benefit as well. “The overall process of recognizing a problem, compiling tons and tons of research and putting it into this really nice, neat proposal is a skill that’s really valuable for my future endeavors,” she said.

Persistence, revision, and collaboration led to a small but critical change at Bates. As these student leaders make their mark, the shift reflects something important about Bates as well. 

“Seeing Bates make this change shows that the college’s leaders follow up their words with actions,” Richards said. “As a leader in student government, I see the success of this initiative both as a result of the thoughtfulness of the Bates administration and of the power of student advocacy. The process of working on our most recent laundry proposal highlighted to me what a collaborative place Bates is and the sincerity with which faculty and staff seek to elevate student voices.”