Doubting Donahue

To the editors:

In her comments to The Crimson Sally C. Donahue, director of financial aid, explained that the purpose of the mediation requirement in cases in which students seek financial independence from their parents is to help “the student and his or her parents...move past what might seem like an irreconcilable difference of opinion” (News, “On Their Own: Making It Add Up,” April 10).

If this explanation is the actual rationale for requiring mediation, then it is inconceivable why there is no exemption from mediation in cases of abuse. Unless, of course, Donahue believes that cases of physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse are simply “differences of opinion.”

As someone who has had the unenviable experience of attempting to gain independent status, I am disturbed that those charged with creating Harvard’s financial aid policy for independent students so fundamentally misunderstand the nature of the cases with which they are dealing.

Alexandra Neuhaus-Follini ’04

April 13, 2003