Tracy Ikegwu once walked into an El Camino College restroom and couldn’t see her reflection.
“I remember going to the restroom one time to fix my hair, I saw that there were no mirrors and I was so shocked,” the 18-year-old biology major said. “I don’t even see the point of going to the restrooms here anymore.”
Across campus, most men’s and women’s restrooms lack mirrors — a basic feature necessary for hygiene, cleanliness and self-confidence. A recent survey by The Union found only eight out of the college’s 42 student restrooms were equipped with mirrors.
Like Ikegwu, other students shared concerns about the college’s lack of mirrors.
Roland Hammork, 20, said he also has yet to find a restroom mirror at ECC, but believes they could be helpful for many students.
“To be honest, I haven’t seen any mirrors in any of the bathrooms so I think there should be,” the radiologic technology major said. “I think it could help out a lot of people and benefit a lot of people in different ways, especially just making sure your identity is good, you look fine, presentable for anybody.”
Andres Osorio, the director of student services for the Associated Students Organization, has been looking to get restroom mirrors installed. He said there was no clear answer for the college’s lack of mirrors, but believes it’s a way to save money.
Osorio said he is attempting to get a proposal to install more restroom mirrors approved by the ASO’s finance and senate committee.
“We are hoping and advocating that it passes,” the student services director said. “We can then start advocating for it on the college level.”
He acknowledges students are asking for mirrors and feels this is a necessity for the campus, adding that older buildings have mirrors, but newer buildings are left without them.
He believes ASO can work with the college to make this possible, adding that mirrors would not incur additional installation charges. Citing internal estimates, Osorio said installing mirrors across campus would likely be less than $10,000.
“They would follow a timeline under facilities through the college, so they would be at no additional cost or labor to the college,” Osorio added.
Tyler Strohl, the college’s student activities advisor, said that although he feels the campus needs mirrors, student safety must be a priority.
“The mirrors have to be commercial grade so that they don’t shatter like your home mirror and cause an injury to someone,” Strohl said.
The student activities director said college officials are looking to be strategic with placement of the mirrors to be cost-effective.
“We have to go through an industrial provider, so one of the ones the district partners with is Grainger,” Strohl said. “What we’ve kind of settled on is it would be cheaper overall to not put a mirror over every bathroom sink and just put one near the door, like a full-length body mirror.”
In the meantime, El Camino College’s restrooms are mostly mirrorless, preventing students from conducting a last-minute vanity check before meeting friends on campus or walking into class.
Business management major Grace Prieto, 25, said mirrors are needed — especially for hygienic purposes.
“It would help sometimes just to see if you have something in your teeth,” Prieto said.
