College students four Psychological Well being Justice, a protection group composed in a part of Harvard’s college college students, demanded the College for accusations that college students discriminate towards psychological well being disabilities in violation of the Regulation of Individuals with disabilities on Thursday.
The demand alleges that Harvard “responds to the habits associated to incapacity with exclusion, guilt and draconian measures,” and added that college insurance policies “illegally discriminate towards college students with psychological well being disabilities.”
A College spokesman didn’t reply to a request for feedback on the accusations.
In line with Harvard’s present insurance policies, college students who take an absence medical allow should ask the Harvard School Administrative Board to register for courses. In line with the Harvard Pupil Handbook, these college students “should show that the circumstances that led to their license have been satisfactorily addressed and that they’re able to resume their research.”
However the demand alleges that Harvard locations “extra limitations” in college students after they return to the campus after an absence allow associated to psychological well being.
Upon returning to the campus of a voluntary or involuntary license, college students could be requested to disclose their medical information to the well being companies of Harvard College “if the college finds out of significant considerations in regards to the well being or nicely -being of a scholar.” Demand is explicitly directed to this measure as coercive and discriminatory.
“We’re in search of the tip of the automated prohibitions of the campus and the tip of the onerous necessities that Harvard imposes on the scholars looking for to return,” stated Madeleine J. Reichman, lawyer for defenders of the rights of incapacity and advisor to S4MHJ.
“Harvard is imposing these necessities, significantly in college students with psychological well being disabilities and never in different college students who could also be trying to return to the campus after different varieties of license or different varieties of hospitalization,” added Reichman.
The demand lists the direct experiences of 5 nameless college students who allege Harvard’s psychological well being insurance policies and practices harm them instantly. College students report having to signal the contract and obtain a selected psychological well being therapy.
One of many plaintiffs was prohibited by the College to enter the campus after experiencing a hospitalization associated to psychological well being, which gave him to need to take a allow to absence of a semester.
“As a result of Harvard didn’t permit college students to return to the campus after their hospitalization, even to complete the ultimate exams, he risked to be pressured to an instructional withdrawal,” the group wrote within the demand. “Given the restricted alternative between being pressured to withdraw tutorial or taking a medical absence allow for the remainder of the time period and the entire subsequent semester, the coed to selected the latter.”
The lawsuit additionally cited an occasion through which a scholar “was dissuaded to discover a psychological well being therapy on the campus for suicidal ideation as a result of he feared he was put in an absence allow” for instance of how college insurance policies supposedly hurt college students on campus.
Whereas the demand particulars 5 experiences, S4MHJ consists of roughly 30 members, a lot of that are Harvard college college students, who’re collectively demanding faculty. Eunice S. Chon ’26, co -founder of S4MHJ, stated the demand “was the one possibility.”
“I’ve visited a number of college students who had been involuntarily hospitalized, and it was sufficient. I do not assume we had another possibility,” he stated.
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