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CNN
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Current students and an advocacy group are suing Yale University and its governing body, alleging “systemic discrimination against mentally ill students,” according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Connecticut federal court.
The lawsuit alleges that the university discriminated against students with mental disorders and forced students to withdraw from school after showing severe symptoms of mental disability.
Yale officials are pressuring students to take ‘voluntary’ time off for at least one or two terms when they show significant symptoms of a mental health disorder by suggesting they would otherwise face a ‘involuntary’ withdrawal,” the lawsuit alleges.
Students withdrawing from the university are not allowed to visit campus and all campus activities without prior permission from the school, including in-person summer classes open to non-students, says the court case.
Policies require withdrawing students to leave their on-campus accommodation within 48 hours.
Rishi Mirchandani, a Yale alumnus and plaintiff in the lawsuit, described his struggles with the school as he faced his own mental health crisis as a college student there.
“I think Yale tends to wash their hands of cases of mental illness that are too severe because they don’t want to be associated with that student. They want the student to take care of their problems anywhere except on the Yale campus,” Mirchandani told CNN. “And in some cases, taking time off is a healthy decision. In other cases, it separates students from their primary support group.
A Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law attorney representing students and the advocacy group said Yale’s policies are difficult to navigate.
“We have researched and collected data on campus mental health issues nationally and used it to inform the policy change we are advocating nationally. We found Yale to be a particularly glaring example,” Monica Porter told CNN.
Yale has been reviewing its withdrawal policies since September, the Yale president said in a November statement.
“A committee of Yale College student affairs professionals and mental health experts has been meeting since September 2022 to continue the review of our withdrawal and reinstatement policies,” the statement read. “This group is poised to roll out phased policy changes that will continue to support students.”
And the university has been working on policy changes that address the emotional and financial well-being of students, a Yale spokesperson told CNN in a statement Wednesday.
“Yale faculty, staff and leaders care deeply about our students. We recognize how distressing and difficult it is for the student and their loved ones when a student is dealing with mental health issues. When we make decisions and establish policies, our primary focus is the safety and health of students, especially when they are most vulnerable. We believe in creating and maintaining strong, meaningful support structures for our students, and in many cases the safest plan includes the student’s parents and family,” spokesperson Karen Peart said. .
“We have taken steps in recent years to simplify the return to Yale for students on medical withdrawal and to provide additional support for students. We are also working to increase resources to help students. The university is confident that our policies comply with all applicable laws and regulations. Nonetheless, we have been working on policy changes that address the emotional and financial well-being of students,” she said.
The lawsuit details instances in which students had to be accompanied by a police escort to retrieve their belongings from campus accommodation after being removed from the university.
Students who leave for disability-related reasons on a voluntary or involuntary basis often end up losing a portion of their tuition and room and board depending on when they withdraw, and also lose their student health insurance, according to the trial.
The lawsuit cites a 2018 report by the Ruderman Family Foundation that awarded Yale an “F” for absences and withdrawal policies, behind six other Ivy League schools. A student named in the lawsuit described being called a “responsibility” by university officials after bouts of mental health.
“If anything were to happen to her, (she) would be a liability to the university,” an official told the student, who was admitted to a local hospital after being reported for self-harm.
The student eventually withdrew from Yale voluntarily and graduated from another school because she could not afford the class requirements Yale had imposed for her to return.
Plaintiff named Hannah Neves alleges in the lawsuit that Yale officials visited her in the hospital after she overdosed on aspirin in February of her freshman year, urging her to voluntarily withdraw or be withdrawn by the school against his will.
Although she was hospitalized without access to her cell phone, the university informed her by email that she had 72 hours to leave campus, according to the lawsuit. Originally from Brazil on a student visa, Neves was forced to return to her home country on short notice. Neves was finally cleared to return to college for the spring 2021 semester and is on track to graduate next year, according to the lawsuit.
According to the university’s website, the school reserves the right to withdraw students for medical reasons when it determines that “due to a medical condition, the student is a danger to themselves or for others, the student seriously disrupted others at the student’s residence or college. communities, or the student has refused to cooperate with efforts deemed necessary by Yale Health and the Dean of Yale College to make such determinations. Each case is individually assessed based on all relevant factors, including, but not limited to, the level of risk presented and the availability of reasonable modifications.
Yale’s review of withdrawal policies in recent months followed a Washington Post article detailing similar allegations from students and alumni.
Two Yale officials were “disappointed to read” the story, they wrote in response in a Washington Post op-ed, noting that confidentiality prevents the school from commenting on specific cases. Continuing enrollment isn’t always the best option for the mentally ill, and in recent years more than 90% of students who have applied for reinstatement have been successful on their first attempt, according to their editorial.
The lawsuit asks the court to approve its class action status, alleging there are likely hundreds of current Yale students who could qualify as mentally ill plaintiffs. Plaintiffs asked the court to bar the university, enjoin discriminatory policies it claims are illegal under federal law, and award attorneys’ fees and costs.
A nonprofit organization named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, Elis for Rachael, contacted university officials in August to try to resolve the students’ claims without litigation, according to the lawsuit, but the parties have not met or discussed the issues raised in the lawsuit. complaint, he said.
“A committee of Yale College student affairs professionals and mental health experts at Yale has been meeting since September 2022 to continue to review our withdrawal and reinstatement policies,” the statement from the university president reads. “This group is poised to roll out phased policy changes that will continue to support students.”
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