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Yale University and a student group announced Friday that they’ve reached a settlement in a federal lawsuit that accused the Ivy League school of discriminating against students with mental health disabilities, including pressuring them to withdraw.
Yale agreed to change its policy on medical leaves, which includes streamlining the process for students returning to campus. According to the student group which represents both alumni and students, this process is onerous. It has discouraged many students over decades from taking a medical leave, even when it was most necessary.
The settlement is a “watershed moment” for the university and mental health patients, said 2019 graduate Rishi Mirchandani, a co-founder of Elis for Rachael, the group that sued. This group was founded to assist students suffering from mental illness in honour of Rachael (a Yale student) who ended her life.
“This historic settlement affirms that students with mental health needs truly belong,” Mirchandani said.
A joint statement from Elis for Rachael and Yale, released on Friday, confirmed the agreement “to resolve a lawsuit filed last November in federal district court related to policies and practices impacting students with mental health disabilities.”
Yale has agreed to allow part-time study for students with urgent medical issues. Elis for Rachael noted that it was the first instance the university offered this option. Accommodations granted at the start of each new term are eligible for a 50% tuition reduction.
“Although Yale describes the circumstances for this accommodation as ‘rare,’ this change still represents a consequential departure from the traditional all- or-nothing attitude towards participation in academic life at Yale,” the group said in a statement.
The dean of Yale College, Pericles Lewis, said he was “pleased with today’s outcome.”
He said “constructive ideas” had emerged from students and alumni, saying in a statement that he hopes the changes “will make it easier for students to ask for support, focus on their health and wellbeing, and take time off if they wish, knowing that they can resume their studies when they are ready.”
In a November letter to alumni responding to a Washington Post article about student mental health and Yale’s withdrawal and readmission policies, President Peter Salovey said colleges and universities in the last few years have seen a surge in demand for mental health services that was exacerbated by the pandemic. Salovey said Yale no longer required withdrawn students take two classes at another institution before seeking readmission.
The plaintiffs, however, argued that much more is needed. This includes a process which allows students to be treated more individually. Under the agreement, the length of a student`s leave would be “based on a clinical assessment. Students may remain on a medical leave of absence for as long as they wish.”
Photo: On the Yale University campus, a woman passes a Yale sign that is reflected by rainwater. Yale University and a student group that accused the Ivy League school in 2022 of discriminating against students with mental health disabilities, including pressuring them to withdraw, announced the two sides have reached an agreement to settle the students’ federal lawsuit. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
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