college mental health

Student Mental Health Discrimination: A Case against Yale University

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[TW: suicide] An advocacy organization and two current students filed a lawsuit against Yale University on November 30 alleging systemic discrimination against students with mental health disabilities.

The lawsuit asserts that Yale’s policies, the risks of being forced to withdraw from the university, and the burdens placed on students when they withdraw and subsequently seek reinstatement, deter students from seeking the mental health treatment they need and from requesting accommodations for their disability.

Elis for Rachael, Inc., a nonprofit organization supporting Yale students in crisis or with mental health disabilities, along with two undergraduates, filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Connecticut. The lawsuit names the President and Fellows (trustees) of Yale University as defendants.

Elis for Rachael was formed by alumni after the March 2021 suicide death of Rachael Shaw-Rosenbaum, 18, of Anchorage, Alaska, who was in her first year at Yale with hopes of becoming a lawyer. She reportedly took her own life after contemplating the consequences of withdrawing from Yale; and worrying she might be kicked out if she sought hospitalization for intensifying suicide ideation.

The plaintiffs are pursuing class action status representing “all Yale students who have, or have a record of, mental health disabilities and who are being harmed, or reasonably fear being harmed, by the illegal policies and practices challenged in this lawsuit.”

Another in an occasional series of articles about student mental health. For more information, go to The Sophie Fund’s Student Mental Health Page

For the past decade, the lawsuit asserts, members of the Yale community, including the Elis for Rachael organization, have endeavored to persuade Yale to change its policies and practices; but the efforts saw few results.

“Plaintiff Elis for Rachael, though counsel, wrote to Yale on August 8, 2022, in an attempt to resolve these claims amicably and without the need to file this lawsuit,” the complaint says.

The lawsuit seeks no monetary damages, but demands injunctive relief to “to remedy Yale University’s systemic discrimination against students with mental health disabilities.” (Eli is a moniker for a Yale student in reference to a 17th century philanthropist for whom the school is named.)

Yale’s Mental Health Policies

Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that Yale refuses or makes it unreasonably difficult for students experiencing mental health symptoms to obtain accommodations for their coursework or housing.

It further alleges that Yale’s withdrawal and leave of absence policies and practices discriminate against students with mental health disorders.

“For decades,” the lawsuit says, Yale has “treated unequally and failed to accommodate students with mental health disabilities, including by modifying policies, in violation of federal law.”

“Yale’s withdrawal policies and practices push students with mental health disabilities out of Yale, impose punitive consequences on students who have withdrawn, and place unreasonable burdens on students who, after a withdrawal, seek reinstatement.”

The lawsuit argues that the impact of Yale’s discriminatory policies is harshest on students with mental health disabilities from less privileged backgrounds, including students of color, students from poor families or rural areas, and international students.

Yale’s refusal to allow virtual attendance, part-time study, or extensions to the nine maximum semesters allowed to complete a degree are examples of the university’s failure to provide reasonable accommodations for students with mental health disabilities, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit alleges that Yale engages in a practice of pressuring students to take voluntary leaves of absence or face involuntary removal when they experience significant mental illness symptoms. Steps to accommodate a student’s disability so that they may remain both enrolled and safe are not consistently explored, the lawsuit says.

The complaint describes instances where university officials visited students hospitalized for mental health crises to encourage them to withdraw voluntarily because it would “look bad” when they were compelled to do so.

In the case of one of the current student plaintiffs, the lawsuit says, the individual learned after leaving the hospital that she had already been involuntarily withdrawn, had 72 hours to leave campus, and could only return to her dorm room accompanied by a campus police officer. Because she was on an international student visa, the lawsuit says, the student had 15 days to leave the United States. The student experienced trauma as a result of Yale’s handling of her situation, the lawsuit states.

According to the lawsuit, Yale regulations impose restrictions on students who withdraw, voluntarily or otherwise, that are not placed on students who take “leaves of absence” defined as student-initiated withdrawals that takes place no later than 15 days into a semester.

The lawsuit states that a student on withdrawal does not have the option to continue health insurance, is banned from campus, must relinquish their housing, may lose tuition, room, and board fees already paid, and must remain away for one or two semesters even if they can provide documentation from a medical provider recommending that they return earlier.

The lawsuit cites a 2018 report by The Ruderman Family Foundation that sharply criticized the withdrawal policies of all eight Ivy League schools—saying “the most elite institutions in our nation” are “exacerbating the college mental health crisis”—and put Yale at the bottom of the rankings with an F grade.

The lawsuit further alleges that Yale discriminates against students who seek to return to the university after a withdrawal though a daunting reinstatement process including judgement about whether their illness had been successfully treated.

The students must submit a form, a personal statement, and letters of support as if they were applying for Yale admission for the first time, and must persuade the university that they were “constructively occupied” during their withdrawal, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit cited examples of how students seeking reinstatement were required to go through interviews with a Reinstatement Committee and Director of Mental Health & Counseling; and to complete two classroom courses (not online courses) at an accredited four-year university, earning a grade of B or higher, during their withdrawal period from Yale.

Reinstated students must meet higher academic standards than their peers, risking a forced withdrawal if they fail in any courses for the two terms following their reinstatement, the lawsuit claims.

Alleged Violations of Federal Laws

The plaintiffs argue that Yale’s discriminatory policies and practices are in violation of four U.S. statutes; the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Rehabilitation Act, Fair Housing Act, and Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Yale violated Title III of the ADA by denying named plaintiffs and members of the proposed class, on the basis of disability, the opportunity to fully and equally enjoy, participate in, and benefit from Yale’s goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations to which individuals with disabilities are entitled, the lawsuit alleges.

The violation included maintaining and executing policies and practices that utilize criteria and methods of administration that have the effect of discriminating against students with mental health disabilities by tending to screen them out of—and make it more onerous for them to regain access to—campus services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations, on the basis of disability, the lawsuit says.

Furthermore, the lawsuit alleges, Yale failed to make reasonable modifications to ensure that affected students have equal access to the benefits of Yale’s goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations, and to provide such benefits in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs.

The lawsuit alleges that as an institution receiving federal financial assistance, Yale violated Rehabilitation Act Section 504 regulations by denying the plaintiffs the benefits of Yale’s programs, services, and activities on the basis of disability; and by maintaining rules that screen out students with disabilities from maintaining their student status and access to campus resources, including housing.

Yale violated Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act by denying affected students the benefits of its health programs and activities, including health insurance, on the basis of disability, the lawsuit alleges.

Finally, the lawsuit claims that Yale violated the Fair Housing Act by maintaining and implementing terms and conditions of housing that exclude and otherwise discriminate on the basis of disability; and by refusing to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, and services, when such accommodations may be necessary to ensure that students with disabilities have equal opportunities to use and enjoy Yale’s residence halls.

The lawsuit says that Yale violated Department of Housing and Urban Development regulations under the Fair Housing Act by utilizing criteria, standards, and requirements that discriminate on the basis of disability, including requiring students with mental health disorders to submit personal statements and medical documentation in advance of being readmitted to residence halls.

Washington Post Report on Yale

The lawsuit came two weeks after a November 11 article on Yale’s withdrawal policy in The Washington Post cited interviews with more than 25 students who “described a university flush with money, yet beset by inadequate services and policies that often fail students in crisis.” 

“Some described never hearing back from Yale counselors after seeking help,” the Post reported. “Others said they’ve learned to hide mental problems and suicidal thoughts to avoid triggering withdrawal policies that they believe are designed to protect Yale from lawsuits and damage to its reputation.”

The Post cited rights advocates who argue that “many schools have hustled those students off campus instead of treating them as people with disabilities who are entitled to special accommodations to remain.”

Yale officials responded harshly to the Post article, saying that student well-being is their primary focus, that virtually all students who request returns to campus after medical withdrawals are reinstated, that Yale continues to expand its mental health services amid a “surge in demand,” and that the Post article perpetuated a damaging stigma around taking mental health withdrawals.

“Addressing students’ mental health is a complex and nuanced endeavor, which this article ignored,” Paul Hoffman, Director of Mental Health & Counseling for Yale Health, and Pericles Lewis, Dean of Yale College, wrote in a letter to the newspaper published November 15. “The article could put more students at risk in its misguided focus on continuous enrollment rather than considering the value of taking time necessary for mental health care.”

On November 16, Yale President Peter Salovey said in a statement to Yale alumni and friends that the Post article “fails to acknowledge the support, processes, and policies in place or the positive outcomes associated with our work.”

While touting Yale’s concern for students and policies and services to support them, neither of the university’s statements acknowledged or responded to the criticism, frustration, anxiety, and anger broadly voiced by students in the Post story about policies that fail to support students and inadequate mental health services. The letter to the Post noted that confidentiality prevents Yale from commenting on specific student cases.

New Policy Changes at Yale

In a January 18 statement to students, Dean of Yale College Pericles Lewis announced “policy changes and clarifications designed to make it easier to take time off if you ever need to and easier to return.” The changes are posted on the “Time Away and Return” page of the Yale website.

Without referencing the lawsuit or its plaintiffs, the statement said that the Dean’s Office began a review of withdrawal policies in early 2022 “listening to current and former students, and collaborating with colleagues across the university.”

The statement listed the following changes:

  • Time away from Yale for medical reasons will now be classified as a “medical leave of absence” rather than as a withdrawal.
  • Students can petition to be able to drop to as low as two courses while remaining in good academic standing, rather than taking a medical leave, if urgent medical needs arise during the term that require significant time for treatment.
  • Students going on medical leave with Yale Health Hospitalization/Specialty Care Coverage can transition to Yale Health Undergraduate Affiliate Coverage for one year. Financial support for the continuing insurance premiums will be available for students receiving the highest levels of financial aid.
  • Students going on medical leaves will receive individualized recommendations for how long they might expect to remain away due to their medical needs; with no minimum or maximum limits on the number of terms for medical leaves.
  • Students on medical leaves can continue working as student employees, to meet with advisers at the Office of Career Strategy, and to use library resources.
  • Students on medical leaves can have access to campus “as visitors and guests,” and may participate “in limited ways” in student organizations.
  • Students returning from medical leaves no longer need to go through an interview with the Reinstatement Committee chair, submit letters of reference, or meet a requirement of remaining “constructively occupied” during their time away.
  • Students returning from medical leaves are no longer required to pass every course in the first two terms after they return.

In a statement reported by The Washington Post on January 19, Elis for Rachael, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said it was in settlement negotiations with Yale pushing for more to be done. “We thank Yale for this first step,” the statement said. “But if Yale were to receive a grade for its work on mental health, it would be an incomplete at best.”

If you or someone you know feels the need to speak with a mental health professional, you can call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 9-8-8, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741-741.

Cornell Student Mental Health 2022 Updates

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Cornell University has made “dozens of improvements” to support and improve student well-being in response to the recommendations of the 2020 Mental Health Review Final Report, according to the Executive Accountability Committee set up to guide strategies for implementing changes.

An EAC statement said that the changes implemented thus far promote social connectedness and belonging for all students, reduce clinical wait times for students seeking mental health services, provide resources to faculty to create health-promoting classrooms, and create clear expectations for graduate student success.

Cornell University campus

EAC updates for 2022 noted that Cornell adopted the Okanagan Charter, which calls for Institutions of Higher Education to embed health into all aspects of campus culture, across the administration, operations and academic mandates; and lead health promotion action and collaboration locally and globally.

“Work has been underway to position Cornell as a Health-Promoting Campus by using a systemic, sustainable way to address campus mental health and well-being,” the updates said.

The Mental Health Review, carried out by internal and external review teams in 2019-2020, made 60 recommendations comprehensively calling for improvements in mental health and medical services, academic life, student well-being, and mental health awareness and proactive support.

Current EAC members include Ryan Lombardi, vice president for Student and Campus Life; Kathryn Boor, dean of the Graduate School and Vice Provost for Graduate Education; and Lisa Nishii, vice provost for Undergraduate Education.

Among the 2022 updates released by EAC:

Health Leave of Absence (HLOA)

Cornell established the position of a fulltime Health Leaves Coordinator within Cornell’s Student Disability Services (SDS). It said that the position is part of a new Health Leave of Absence (HLOA) process “that provides more support to students, consistency across colleges/schools/campuses, and assistance with navigating the HLOA process and university bureaucracy/resources.”

Under the new policy, coordination for HLOAs moves to a “new home” within SDS from Cornell’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). The coordinator serves as a resource for students throughout the leave and return processes and is a central point of information and contact for campus partners. Students must meet with the coordinator and receive a holistic plan for returning to campus, and are also encouraged to discuss accommodations with SDS.

Suicide Prevention Training

All CAPS clinical staff participated in Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS) training during summer 2022 as its annual professional development. CAMS is an evidence-based therapeutic framework for suicide-specific assessment and treatment of a patient’s suicidal risk.

Clinical “Stepped-Care” Model

CAPS implemented a new stepped-care model of clinical services in Fall 2021 to provide rapid access within 48 hours to an initial brief Access Appointment that assesses students’ presenting concerns and relevant clinical factors and refers them to most appropriate service.

CAPS also began offering expanded clinical options, including workshops, additional group therapy programs, additional medication management options, single-session counseling, and telehealth services with Mantra Health.

Care & Crisis Services

The Dean of Students Office’s Care & Crisis Services Team, which identifies, assesses, and responds to concerns and/or disruptive behaviors by students who present a risk to the health or safety of the university or its members, implemented a new protocol including the utilization of a new student of concern referral form.

Communications

The university developed a comprehensive communication plan to regularly share updates with the campus community, utilizing Cornell’s mental health website and other key communication strategies.

Undergraduate Experience

Three work groups completed a year-long review of the Mental Health Review’s recommendations for advising, grading policies, and academic policies.

The Advising Working Group final report included these key action items: (a) develop department advising plans; (b) clarify advising roles and expectations of faculty, staff advisors, and peers; (c) strengthen professional development for staff and faculty advisors; (d) adopt best practices, accountability, and recognition for advising excellence; (e) develop consistent learning outcomes for well-being in advising seminars and programs; (f) collaborate with Institutional Research and Planning to assess advising needs of vulnerable student populations; (g) offer both in-person and virtual advising to optimize flexibility for students; and (h) provide students clear guidance for communicating with faculty when missing class due to a short illness.

The Grading Policies Working Group collected input from students, faculty, staff, and peer institutions to inform thoughtful deliberations about a wide range of academic stressors that may be particularly detrimental for student mental health as well as about new or improved forms of academic support for students. Topics explored by the Grading Policies Working Group include: (a) instituting a S/U-type grading system for the first semester of the first year; (b) implementing an early warning “flagging” system to identify struggling students based on early graded assessments; (c) developing more academic support courses, especially for introductory classes; (d) increasing the number of courses that offer the S/U grading option; (e) strongly discouraging norm-referenced grading; (f) elevating assessment and grading policies as fundamental to teaching excellence; (g) discouraging curving down and overly difficult tests that result in low numerical exam scores, and improving transparency about grading practices; and (h) eliminating the grade of A+ (which is used inconsistently, thereby creating inequities).

The Academic Policies Working Group collected input from students, faculty, staff, and peer institutions to inform thoughtful deliberations about a wide range of academic stressors that may be particularly detrimental for student mental health as well as about new or improved forms of academic support for students. This group deliberated the merits of: (a) limiting the number of credits allowed for first-semester first-year students to 16 (or slightly higher for degrees that require a higher number of credits); (b) reducing the overall number of evening prelims by restricting them to large courses; (c) developing a university policy for resolving exam conflicts; (d) regularizing faculty discussions about pedagogy and assessments; (e) providing safety escorts for students walking home after evening prelims; and (f) requiring information about key course elements—such as the nature of graded assignments—to be available to students prior to pre-enrollment. Most of the recommendations need to be further vetted by the faculty senate and other governance structures before they could be adopted. In addition, some would necessitate significant investments in technology solutions and time before they could be implemented. 

Graduate Student Experience

The Graduate Advisor Feedback Task Force vetted its final report with the Graduate School, the Graduate School’s General Committee, the directors of Graduate Study, the vice provosts and provost and all college deans.

Key action items include the development of orientation materials, creation of a clearinghouse for resources, increasing faculty training around mentoring, anonymization of graduate student feedback on supervisor performance, and collecting graduate student feedback. Each graduate field will be asked to report annually on their progress in these areas.

Resident Advisors

Housing and Residential Life convened a task force to reevaluate the role of Resident Advisors.

Since this review, the RA position has shifted to focus more on intentional interactions with individual residents and resource referral on campus for challenges in and out of the classroom, and not as much programming and clear communication that they not take on the sole responsibly for the transition or well-being of any resident. RAs have also been trained on secondary trauma and how to better care for themselves when students do disclose difficult situations, and how to immediately refer that resident to resources and take of themselves in caring roles. The 2022-23 remuneration for the RA position has also changed to address concerns of how the RA compensation was negatively affecting the RA’s financial aid package.

Program Management

The Skorton Center for Health Initiatives is taking over management of Cornell’s Victim Advocacy Program, as well as advising roles for the Empathy Assistance and Referral Service, a peer mentoring program known as EARS, and Cornell Minds Matter, a student mental health club.

Cornell Health, “in consultation with legal counsel, reconfigured” the drop-in service that offers informal, private consultation with a mental health counselor. Let’s Talk will be considered an outreach program, “eschewing clinical documentation” and falling under the federal education privacy law rather than the federal medical privacy statute.

Okanagan Charter

Cornell leaders on October 26 signed the Okanagan Charter, which calls on Institutions of Higher Education to embed health into all aspects of campus culture, across the administration, operations and academic mandates, and lead health promotion action and collaboration locally and globally.

According to the Charter, its purpose is to 1) guide and inspire action by providing a framework that reflects the latest concepts, processes and principles; generate dialogue and research that expands local, regional, national and international networks, and accelerates action on, off and between campuses; and 3) mobilize international, cross-sector action for the integration of health in all policies and practices.

The Charter does not focus directly on mental health or use the term in its text, defining health “holistically, reflecting physical, mental and social well-being.”

Ryan Lombardi, vice president, Student and Campus Life, said the Charter’s principles “will help provide structure for the next phase of Cornell’s Student Mental Health Review, a collaborative process that has paved the way for a shared commitment to the betterment of mental health inside and outside of the classroom.”

The Charter was created and signed by education leaders at the 2015 International Conference on Health Promoting Universities and Colleges at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus in Kelowna, Canada. Representatives from the World Health Organization, Pan American Health Organization and UNESCO joined in the pledge.

Serving as Cornell’s executive sponsors of the Okanagan Charter are Martha E. Pollock, Cornell president; Christine Lovely, vice president and chief Human Resources officer; Lisa Nishii, vice provost for Undergraduate Education; Kathryn Boor, dean of the Graduate School and vice provost of Graduate Education; and Ryan Lombardi, vice president, Student and Campus Life.

According to the Cornell Chronicle, two collaborating advisory groups for campus well-being—one focused on students, the other on faculty and staff—will employ multidisciplinary approaches to explore and implement changes and sustain momentum over time.

“The Okanagan Charter is an important way for Cornell to both reaffirm and formalize our commitment to supporting the health of our students, faculty and staff,” Pollack said. “It will support us in seeking new ways of incorporating health-promoting behaviors into our campus culture, and in identifying and sharing best practices to support community well-being.”

Implementation Management

The university abolished the Executive Accountability Committee, which consisted of four senior administrators as “executive sponsors,” and three “change leads” covering the academic community, campus community, and clinical services, and replaced it with a 25-member Student Well-Being Council. The council provides oversight for campus mental health and well-being broadly, including recommendations from the Mental Health Review report, as well as “new priorities” as a health-promoting campus within the Okanagan Charter.

The council will use a new evaluation plan to measure programs, policies, and campus culture. The university also created a campus-wide Community of Practice to implement key recommendations and “identify evidence-informed strategies to implement Health-Promoting Campus strategies.”

The Community of Practice will collect and analyze data, implement key strategies, provide best practices, and “identify ways to regularly engage students, staff, and faculty to provide feedback, stay involved, and support health and well-being on our campus” through the work of six Community of Practice committees.

The university will create a “Well-Being Vision for Cornell” to guide its health-promoting work.

Student Well-Being Council Members:

  • Julie Edwards (chair), director of Skorton Center for Health Initiatives
  • Lisa Nishii (executive sponsor), vice provost for Undergraduate Education
  • Kathryn Boor (executive sponsor), dean of the Graduate School and vice provost of Graduate Education
  • Ryan Lombardi (executive sponsor), vice president, Student and Campus Life
  • Eve DeRosa, dean of Faculty
  • Marla Love, dean of students, Student and Campus Life
  • Abby Priehs, director, Housing and Residential Life
  • Dave Honan, assistant vice president, Public Safety
  • Michelle Artibee, director, Workforce Wellbeing
  • Jai Sweet, dean of students, College of Veterinary Medicine
  • Linda Croll Howell, senior director, Employee Experience
  • Markeisha Miner, dean of students, Law School
  • Amanda Shaw, associate dean of students, SC Johnson College of Business
  • Kim Anderson, assistant director, Sustainability
  • Amy Gaulke, executive director, Student and Campus Life Communications
  • Amy Foster, deputy director, Athletics
  • Kristina Im (student), Student Assembly, Health and Wellness Committee
  • Ngoc Truong (student), Student Assembly, Health and Wellness Committee
  • Andrew Juan (student), University Assembly
  • Kate Carter-Cram (student), Graduate and Professional Student Assembly

Consulting Members:

  • Laura Santacrose, assistant director, Skorton Center for Health Initiatives
  • Catherine Thrasher-Carroll, program director, Mental Health Promotion, Skorton Center for Health Initiatives
  • Abi Dubovi, mental health program specialist, Skorton Center for Health Initiatives
  • Jennifer Austin, director of Communications, Cornell Health
  • Bonnie Comella, associate vice provost for Undergraduate Education

Suicide on the Campus: A Case Against Stanford University

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[TW: suicide] The parents of Stanford University soccer captain and goalkeeper Katie Meyer filed a lawsuit against the college on November 23 arguing that its reckless actions and inactions caused Meyer’s death by suicide last February.

The lawsuit brought by Steven and Gina Meyer asserts that Stanford administration employees engaged in institutional bullying and a punitive act of gender discrimination in Stanford’s treatment of their daughter preceding her death on February 28.

Stanford captain and goalie Katie Meyer

In its handling of a disciplinary case against Meyer, the lawsuit alleges, Stanford relied on a university judicial system that it knew to be seriously flawed, overly punitive, and harmful to students; selectively proceeded with the case without sufficient evidence; failed to provide Meyer with appropriate mental health support despite knowing of her despair over the case; and in 17 different actions or inactions breached the duty of care the university owes to its students.

The lawsuit asks for a jury trial, seeking injunctive relief and damages for wrongful death and for negligent as well as intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Stanford officials denied that the university was responsible for Meyer’s suicide, and said that the family’s lawsuit “contains allegations that are false and misleading.”

Case Against Katie Meyer

According to the lawsuit filed in the Superior Court of California in Santa Clara County, on the evening of Meyer’s death Stanford’s Office of Community Standards (OCS) had “negligently and recklessly” notified Meyer via email with a “formal written notice that you are charged” with a conduct violation for allegedly “spilling coffee on another student.”

The five-page, single-spaced letter from Tiffany Gabrielson, Associate Dean and OCS head, contained threatening language regarding sanctions and potential ‘removal from the university,’” the lawsuit says.

The formal disciplinary charge letter stated that Meyer’s diploma was being placed on hold, just three months from her graduation date, threatening her status as a Stanford student, captain and member of the women’s soccer team, residential advisor, Mayfield Fellow, Defense Innovative Scholar, and her hope to attend Stanford Law School, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit described Meyer, 22, from Newbury Park, California, as a high academic achiever with a 3.84 Grade Point Average, an ambassador for Just Women’s Sports, the creator of the podcast “Be the Mentality” produced by a subsidiary of Facebook, an upcoming speaker of a TedX Talk, a candidate for the U.S. women’s soccer team, “and, above all, [a] loving and loyal daughter, sister, friend, teammate, and student.”

The lawsuit says that Stanford began recruiting Meyer after her freshman year of high school. In 2020 she was voted captain by her Stanford women’s soccer teammates; in 2019, she had led  them to the College Cup national championship, and was awarded MVP in the final against North Carolina after her save in a penalty kick shootout decided the outcome.

Stanford repeatedly used Meyer’s image and likeness to promote the university, sports programs, and civic pride including in its recruitment of other women’s soccer players, the lawsuit says.

The disciplinary charge stemmed from an incident six months earlier in August 2021 where Meyer was alleged to have spilled coffee on a male Stanford football player “who allegedly sexually assaulted a minor female soccer player on the team in which Katie served as a captain,” according to the lawsuit. Meyer consistently contended that the coffee spill was accidental, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit says that Stanford employees sent the formal disciplinary charge letter via email on February 28 after 7 p.m., after normal working hours, literally on the last day within the six-month period following an incident that is allowed for bringing conduct charges.

Another in an occasional series of articles about student mental health. For more information, go to The Sophie Fund’s Student Mental Health Page

The lawsuit says that Meyer immediately responded to the email expressing how “shocked and distraught” she was over being charged and threatened with removal from the university. The lawsuit asserts that the letter and covering email both “contained language assuming guilt,” and that it is reasonable that the threatening language led Meyer to believe that was the case. Meyer had come to feel that the case was no longer being pursued because OCS had not contacted her for more than three months, since November 21, the lawsuit says.

Yet, the lawsuit contends, Stanford employees failed to respond to her expression of distress and check on her well-being, rather offering a meeting days later. They did not do so, the lawsuit adds, despite Meyer having also expressed feelings of terror and anxiety in her most recent previous communication to OCS, three months earlier.

“Stanford’s after-hours disciplinary charge, and the reckless nature and manner of submission to Katie, caused Katie to suffer an acute stress reaction that impulsively led to her suicide,” the lawsuit alleges.

Up until receiving the email and formal charging letter on February 28, the lawsuit says, Meyer had no prior history of mental illness and was excitedly planning her future. “Katie’s suicide was completed without planning and solely in response to the shocking and deeply distressing information she received from Stanford while alone in her room without any support or resources,” the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit says that the email and letter led Meyer “to believe that all of her future plans were being upended, making all of her hard work for naught, and leaving her in an acute emotional episode with a loss of purpose, a sense of embarrassment and humiliation, and feelings of helplessness and hopelessness.” The OSC charging letter was on Meyer’s computer screen at the time of her death, the lawsuit says.

“From the onset, there was no reasonable basis, nor sufficient evidence, for Stanford to bring such harsh and aggressive disciplinary charges for purported ‘spilled coffee,’ and the threats levied against Katie by Stanford employees were unwarranted, overly punitive, without due care and reckless. In short, Stanford employees used the OCS process selectively on Katie Meyer as a form of institutional bullying,” the lawsuit asserts.

One of the lawsuit’s counts further accuses Stanford of negligent infliction of emotional distress on Meyer’s parents, for failing to provide them with her student records and “sending threatening emails to Steve and Gina Meyer pertaining to their viewing of Katie’s documents on her computer despite the fact that the documents became the property of Steve and Gina Meyer following Katie’s death.”

Duty of Care

The defendants’ actions and failures to act are particularly egregious, the lawsuit says, considering that they knew their student disciplinary process was too punitive, that Stanford had a long history of extensive suicides and suicidal attempts of its students, and that the university provided inadequate mental health support for its students and in particular its student athletes.

The lawsuit alleges that the defendants had been on notice that Stanford’s disciplinary process was punitive and inflicting inappropriate, unnecessary distress on its students. Yet, it says, President Marc Tessier-Lavigne and other senior Stanford administrators “did nothing to rectify it, breaching the standard of care and duty owed to Katie and other students.”

The lawsuit cites three reviews of Stanford’s judicial process dating back to 2011, which variously found it to be “overly punitive,” known for bullying and intimidation, and lacking full compliance with due process rights such as presumption of innocence, reasonable time frames for adjudication, and legal representation.

The lawsuit asserts that Stanford established a duty of care to its students through many representations to new students and their families, including an admissions webpage that states: “Parents can be assured that their students are cared for during their freshman year and throughout their Stanford career.”

The lawsuit cites a “Welcome to Stanford” speech by President Tessier-Lavigne at an opening convocation in 2018, when Meyer was a first-year student, where he said: “To all of the parents and family members who are here to wish you well as you embark on this journey, I thank you for entrusting your loved ones to us. I want to assure you that we will support and care for them as they begin taking those first steps toward the future.”

Mental Health Support

Despite its duty of care to its students, the lawsuit alleges, Stanford ignored Meyer’s documented representations about anxiety, depression, and suicide that correlated with the OCS disciplinary process.

In her formal statement on the case to Stanford in November 2021, Meyer recounted the stress she was experiencing over the disciplinary process and was terrified such incidents “will destroy my future,” the lawsuit says.

Although stating that Meyer had no prior history of mental illness before receiving the formal charge letter on February 28, the lawsuit says that she had previously documented her increased symptoms with Stanford mental health professionals. Three months earlier, right after submitting her formal statement in November, the lawsuit says, Meyer met separately with a Stanford psychiatrist and psychologist; and reported, respectively, “increased depression symptoms associated with perceived failure and endorsed suicidal ideations” and “worsening anxiety and mood and increased depression.”

The lawsuit alleges that Stanford’s “long history of failing to appropriately handle mental health concerns and to adopt best practices for the safety of its students” contributed to Meyer’s death. It says that at least seven other Stanford students had died by suicide since January 2019.

“The mental health epidemic at Stanford has been ongoing for years,” the lawsuits asserts. “Yet in the face of so many students at Stanford with mental health needs, Stanford understaffs its counseling centers, resulting in students waiting months for much needed treatment.”

The lawsuit cites a 2018 class action lawsuit against Stanford for violating the rights of students with mental health disabilities.

The lawsuit, which was settled through confidential mediation without an admission of liability but with Stanford’s agreement to reforms, had cited Stanford’s “practice of treating students who experience mental health crises as liabilities: pressuring them into taking leaves of absence and requiring immediate withdrawal from all classes and housing, all without an individualized evaluation of reasonable accommodations.”

“Stanford’s negligent and reckless attitude towards Katie and the importance of student athletes’ mental health is indicative of the greater dismissive attitude toward mental health needs of its students on Stanford’s campus even today while students continue to suffer without proper assistance,” the lawsuit says.

Gender Discrimination?

The lawsuit says that the disciplinary complaint against Meyer was filed based on hearsay and outside university investigative procedures by Lisa Caldera, Associate Dean, Office of Residential Education, rather than by the football player himself. The lawsuit says the individual “indicated throughout the disciplinary process that he would like to ‘make amends’ and ‘did not want any punishment that impacts her life.’” The lawsuit contends that Stanford never offered Meyer “restorative justice options that would allow the parties to meet and apologize over the incident.”

Furthermore, the lawsuit says, Stanford selectively chose not to bring any disciplinary charges against the football player who allegedly sexually assaulted Meyer’s teammate. “Instead of pursuing the allegations of sexual assault against the football player, Stanford pursued claims against Katie for allegedly spilling coffee on him,” the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit claims that the university was required to dismiss the player from the football team under its own zero tolerance for sexual violence policies yet failed to initiate any meaningful disciplinary process against him. The lawsuit asserts that Stanford football coach David Shaw, who is not named in the case, had been a member of the NCAA Commission to Combat Campus Sexual Violence and touted to be a leading advocate of the Set The Expectation program aimed at working to end the culture of sexual assault and domestic violence among college and high school athletes.

Stanford’s Response

The lawsuit against Stanford University names the Stanford Board of Trustees and several administrators specifically:

Marc Tessier-Lavigne, President

Lisa Caldera, Associate Dean, Office of Residential Education

Tiffany Gabrielson. Associate Dean of Students and Director of the Office of Community Standards

Alyce Haley, Assistant Dean of Students, Office of Community Standards

Susie Brubaker-Cole, Vice Provost for Student Affairs

Debra Zumwalt, General Counsel

“Defendants cannot escape the consequences of their actions,” the lawsuit concludes. “They must be held accountable, not only to satisfy the demands of justice, but just as importantly to discourage such flagrantly irresponsible actions and/or inactions (and the actions and/or inactions of others who Defendants control) from being perpetrated on vulnerable students like Katie Meyer and others in the future.”

An unsigned Stanford communication responding to the lawsuit posted November 25 and updated December 1 on the university’s website stated: “We strongly disagree with any assertion that the university is responsible for her death. We plan to fully defend the university and named defendants against the allegations in the complaint.”

The statement said that the university launched the conduct review as a matter of routine after receiving a complaint about Meyer’s alleged behavior that resulted in a physical injury. The review entailed extensive factfinding and the opportunity for “both sides” to provide information, it said. “It is important to emphasize that we are committed to supporting students through the student judicial process under OCS, and we did so in this case,” the statement said.

In the correspondence on the night of her death, the statement said, Meyer was explicitly told that the charge was “not a determination that she did anything wrong.” It said that when Meyer emailed OCS after receiving the email and letter, the office responded within an hour and offered to meet with her; and they mutually agreed on an appointment three days later. As for further support, the statement said Meyer was given a number to call for immediate support and was specifically told that this resource was available to her 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The statement said the university denied the allegation that OCS did not communicate with Katie prior to the night of her death February 28—although the lawsuit had said the lack of communication stretched from November 21 to February 25, not February 28, which the statement did not dispute.

The statement made no response to the lawsuit’s assertion that Stanford breached its duty of care to Meyer by failing to repair an institutional disciplinary process that administrators knew was  punitive and inflicted inappropriate, unnecessary distress on students.

Addressing the allegation that Stanford did not pursue discipline in a sexual assault claim against the male athlete in the coffee spilling incident, the statement said that the university reported the claim that “a football player kissed one of Katie’s soccer teammates without her permission” to Stanford’s Title IX office and to the police. But it said that the Title IX office “did not pursue the matter since the criteria for moving forward with an investigation were not met.”

If you or someone you know feels the need to speak with a mental health professional, you can call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 9-8-8, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741-741.

Yale’s Mental Health Policies Under Fire

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[TW: suicide] The Washington Post on November 11 published an investigative report detailing how Yale University’s mental health services, policies, and practices fail to adequately support students, and even intimidate some from seeking help they need for fear of being forced to withdraw from the school.

Yale University campus, New Haven, Connecticut

The headline on the Post article was “‘What if Yale finds out?’: Suicidal students are pressured to withdraw from Yale, then have to apply to get back into the university.”

The article cited interviews with more than 25 students who “described a university flush with money, yet beset by inadequate services and policies that often fail students in crisis.”  Yale’s endowment, the Post said, is worth $41.4 billion.

The article said some students told of never hearing back from Yale mental health counselors after seeking help. Others said that the short counseling appointments they received were not helpful and even “made things worse” by not providing enough space to work through problems.

Some students reported that they hide mental problems and suicidal thoughts to avoid triggering withdrawal policies “they believe are designed to protect Yale from lawsuits and damage to its reputation.”

The Post report described how students pressured or forced on medical withdrawals were barred from classes, gyms, libraries, extracurricular activities, and even setting foot on campus; for some, that meant losing routines, research, and connections with friends and mentors, things that provided purpose, identity, and support when students needed it most. Additional student worries included losing medical insurance and the potential impact a mental health withdrawal could have on their future applications for post-graduate study.

The article described a variety of daunting requirements that students on a mental health withdrawals must fulfill to be reinstated at Yale: submitting an essay, providing letters of recommendation, interviewing with Yale officials, taking two courses at another university during their withdrawal; proving that they had been “constructively occupied,” and demonstrating that they had “addressed their problems.”

The Post reported how some students forced to withdraw from a prestigious university they were so proud to attend experienced feelings of anger, failure, frustration, being broken and dehumanized. “They make you feel like you’re the best of the best, like this bright and shiny thing,” one student told the Post. “But as soon as something’s wrong, they want nothing to do with you.”

The article quoted an alum on how her withdrawal two decades ago still haunts her. “It’s the betrayal you feel, the violation,” she said. “Realizing how unimportant you are to this institution that you had such high hopes for. The trauma of how they treated me has outlasted many other issues I had.”

Students interviewed by the Post described being pressured to withdraw from Yale immediately after being hospitalized for a mental health crisis. In one case, a student was transported to a hospital after university officials learned that she was cutting, which the Mayo Clinic terms “non-suicidal self-injury… to cope with emotional pain, sadness, anger and stress.” At the hospital, they forced her to withdraw and return home. Seven months later, she attempted suicide while applying for reinstatement to Yale. She wound up applying to and attending Northwestern University.

Another in an occasional series of articles about student mental health. For more information, go to The Sophie Fund’s Student Mental Health Page

The Post related the story of Rachael Shaw-Rosenbaum, who died by suicide during her first year at Yale in March 2021. According to the article, her family said that she took her own life after contemplating the consequences of withdrawing from the school. The Post said that two days before her act she had written on Reddit of her worry of being forced to withdraw from Yale if she sought treatment for suicidal thoughts she was experiencing.

The Post cited rights advocates who argue that “many schools have hustled those students off campus instead of treating them as people with disabilities who are entitled to special accommodations to remain.” The article said critics claim that Yale has been slower than some elite universities to accommodate students who don’t want to leave.

The Post article referenced a 2018 study by The Ruderman Family Foundation that gave Yale an F grade for its withdrawal policies. The Post also noted that Yale is one of only two Ivy League schools that have not joined a four-year program at The Jed Foundation to improve campus mental health policies.

Yale officials responded harshly to the Post article, saying that student well-being is their primary focus, that virtually all students who request returns to campus after a medical withdrawal are readmitted, that Yale continues to expand its mental health services, and that the Post article perpetuates a stigma about taking mental health withdrawals.

“Addressing students’ mental health is a complex and nuanced endeavor, which this article ignored,” Paul Hoffman, director of Mental Health & Counseling for Yale Health, and Pericles Lewis, dean of Yale College, wrote in a letter to the newspaper published November 15. “The article could put more students at risk in its misguided focus on continuous enrollment rather than considering the value of taking time necessary for mental health care.”

On November 16, Yale President Peter Salovey said in a statement to Yale alumni and friends that the Post article “fails to acknowledge the support, processes, and policies in place or the positive outcomes associated with our work.”

He said that Yale students utilized approximately 55,000 mental health visits in 2022, and that Yale’s counseling center provided treatment to more than 5,000 students. He noted the “surge” in demand for mental health services across the nation, and that Yale responded by reviewing its policies, loosening its reinstatement policy, and adding new counseling services.

“I found the Washington Post article deeply disturbing for the misinformation it contains about Yale and for the harm it can do to students by perpetuating the damaging narrative that it is more important to stay in college than to take time to heal,” Salovey wrote. He did not provide any examples to support his allegation that the Post article contained falsehoods or inaccuracies.

“As a clinical psychologist and faculty member who has worked alongside mental health and student affairs colleagues at Yale for four decades, I am disappointed that the Post article misrepresents our efforts and unwavering commitment to supporting our students, whose well-being and success are our primary focus.”

While touting Yale’s concern for students and policies and services to support them, neither of the university’s statements acknowledged or responded to the criticism, frustration, anxiety, and anger broadly voiced by students in the Post story about policies that fail to support students and inadequate mental health services. The letter to the Post noted that confidentiality prevents Yale from commenting on specific student cases.

If you or someone you know feels the need to speak with a mental health professional, you can call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 9-8-8, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741-741.

Thank You, Cornell Students!

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Cornell University students from six campus organizations spent two weeks in October supporting the 7th Annual Ithaca Cupcake Baking Contest and the Cupcake Button fundraising campaign for mental health.

Participating groups included Cornell Circle K, Alpha Phi Omega, Phi Sigma Pi, PATCH (Pre-Professional Association Toward Careers in Health), Cornell Health International, and Reflect at Cornell.

In remarks at the cupcake contest awards ceremony on October 15, Max Fante, a Cornell Circle K leader, thanked Ithaca mental health providers for supporting student wellbeing.

“Students around the world are constantly struggling, with worries of failure and disappointment,” he said. “Without any direction or help, they find themselves lost. The young mind is especially fragile, as we are taking our experiences, and shaping how we respond to stress and decision making in the future. Your support for such an important cause is critical for students.”

Cupcake Contest: The Morning Crew

Fante and his fellow student volunteers spent the first two weeks of October raising funds for the Finger Lakes affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). The annual Cupcake Button campaign is coordinated by The Sophie Fund to support mental health organizations in the greater Ithaca community.

At the contest, also organized by The Sophie Fund, the student volunteers set up the venue, ran contest registration, served as preliminary-round judges, created special award certificates, and cleaned the event space afterwards.

Cupcake Contest: The Afternoon Crew

“We are immensely grateful for the support of Cornell student organizations,” said Scott MacLeod, co-founder of The Sophie Fund. “The students are fantastic advocates for mental health on campus, and their efforts to raise money supports the vital work of Ithaca community mental health organizations. And, the student volunteers help us make the cupcake contest a mental health awareness event every year.”

Cupcake Contest: Members of the Phi Sigma Pi team

Cupcake Contest: That’s a Wrap!