U.C. Anti-Discrimination Proposal Discussed

The Mental Health Advocacy and Awareness Group, new to Harvard this semester, met for the second time last night to discuss discrimination against transgendered people.

The group's concern over the fate of transgendered people stemmed from Sunday's Undergraduate Council meeting, in which a council member called homosexuality a mental illness.

The council is in the process of voting on whether or not to include transgender people as a protected category under the non-discrimination clause of its constitution.

According to co-chair Allison D. Kent '99, the group would "like to see the University add mental illness to its non-discrimination clause."

"Sometimes academic reasons are cited in order to Ad Board students who have problems that actually stem from mental illness," she added.

Currently, the University does not have a written policy for dealing with issues of mental illness. Tutors and proctors vary widely in their treatment of the issue.

"The reason support groups are not official is that some people are terrified that their freshman proctor or senior tutor would find out, which would change the way they are treated," said the group's co-chair, Jeremy Jenkins '97.

Kent cited instances when students admitted to the University who had previously been diagnosed with a mental illness, were strongly encouraged to undergo mental examinations at University Health Services.

Jenkins said this policy represents "a double standard" on the part of the University. "If a company hired a person and then required a physical examination, it would be called discrimination unless every potential employee needed an examination," he said.

The Mental Health and Advocacy Group was formed last fall during four introductory meetings and now has 65 members.

In addition to the non-discrimination issue, the group is publishing a list of tutors and proctors whom students can approach to discuss mental health concerns. The group will sponsor a panel on mental health in April and several events during Mental Health Awareness Week in October.

According to Jenkins, the group hopes to encourage open dialogue about mental health issues.

"Some professors will openly reveal their homosexuality," he said. "We will have made progress when [professors] will admit that they have a mental illness."