Harvard Oppresses the Mentally Ill

Harvard prides itself on a vast and generous financial aid program. According to Harvard College’s Financial Aid Office, Harvard “[awards] a record-breaking $145 million in need-based scholarship assistance to almost 60 percent of our students.” Sounds pretty good, right? An all-encompassing financial aid package awarded to every student who demonstrates financial need. Wrong. Like many other exalted institutions, Harvard only offers the illusion of financial security. In fact, Harvard is discriminating against the most vulnerable members of its community: The mentally ill.

While Harvard has an unprecedented financial aid program that has allowed many students to flourish, Harvard oppresses the mentally ill who are characterized by a lower socioeconomic status.

Being mentally ill makes it very difficult to excel in the United States, and Harvard is no exception. When a student enters Harvard with a mental disability, he or she is required to submit documentation to prove their illness. While some colleges will accept several forms of documentation, Harvard requires the student to present evidence of a neuropsychological examination from a neuropsychologist with a Ph.D. Nothing else is acceptable, not even documentation from a treating psychiatrist (M.D.) that states the illness and lays out the issues that require that a student receive various educational supports.

While Harvard may offer the financial aid for students to step foot in their dorms, Harvard does not offer that same support to students with mental disabilities. That is to say, Harvard does not support its students in the financial sense because Harvard requires its students to submit expensive and unreasonable evidence to “prove” their mental illness so the student can receive reasonable accommodations.

These accommodations help the student perform better overall because the mental disabilities they face can cause insurmountable barriers to success. A voiceless mentally ill population is exploited in America. With nigh zero mention of mental illness in the current health care debate because mental health issues are the elephant in the room when discussing health care, the voiceless are being pushed aside for big interests to see their agenda through the health reform bill. We can see similar practices on a smaller scale at Harvard.

Harvard’s discrimination when it comes to mental illness and disability services is a problem of paramount importance that affects many.  The National Institute of Mental Health claims 26.2 percent of American adults—57.7 million people—suffer from a mental illness each year. Harvard cannot overlook this inconvenient truth—many of its students have mental illness that requires specific supports for the student to succeed in an academic environment. I am one such student—diagnosed with mental illness, including anxiety and ADHD, I have trouble concentrating in class as well as during exams. The simple act of someone coughing can send my mind into the abyss, causing myself to lose focus for an indefinite amount of time.

For me—and others dealing with mental illness—the ability to take an exam in a separate and contained environment while receiving extended time on exams is essential to my success here. According to Harvard, because I do not have incredibly expensive documentation from a neuropsychologist with a Ph.D., I am unable to receive these necessary accommodations afforded to people with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The chance for a student to attend Harvard could be quashed when she discovers that the testing that Harvard requires is too expensive for the family. Harvard has a choice—it can either accept a broader range of documentation or pay for the costly documentation. Right now, it does neither and students like me are in danger of going unnoticed.

If students like myself are going to make it here, Harvard needs to put in place a more supportive and flexible system. By requiring students to submit a neuropsychological examination from—what Harvard deems as the only appropriate source—a Ph.D. neuropsychologist, they force an undue financial hardship upon a majority of students. An institution like Harvard should be part of the solution, not part of the problem. It should be working overtime to support students with mental illness. Harvard’s “complete” package is not just incomplete but rather bland when a student realizes they cannot afford to go to Harvard—or get sick—because Harvard does not really support them. No student should be forced to choose between their health and an education.

Christopher Mejo is a sophomore at Harvard Extension School.