When mental illness is left untreated, result It can be serious for individuals and the communities in which they live. The university's own trust community is no exception. Students do not lie, cheat, or steal in a vacuum. Rather, students' lives are filled with stressors that lead to stigmatized behavior. In particular, mental health issues can exacerbate these stressors and facilitate violations of communities of trust. This is what the Honor Committee recognized and sought to address through the current contributory health disorders. procedure. However, these measures fail to achieve their intended purpose as they continue to place the burden of self-advocacy on students.
according to it, procedural documents, the committee will consider whether the accused student possesses CHI, a health disorder that contributed to the student's decision to commit an honor crime. The presence or inability to have CHI is determined, at least in part, by a psychological evaluation by an appropriately qualified professional. However, this assessment must be requested by the students themselves, a structure that burdens students who are already engaged in a stressful process with attention to their mental health. To ensure that all accused students receive appropriate attention for their mental health, the Board should change its policy regarding mental health evaluations from opt-in to opt-out.
Under existing policies, students are not only responsible for looking after their own mental health, but they are equally responsible for navigating the process and independently requesting the help they need. In addition to taking up valuable time and placing a strong mental strain on students, this process is completely ineffective. To properly ensure that all accused students are given a fair trial with full consideration of their health status, the Committee should reform the structure of CHI and make psychiatric evaluations a fundamental prelude to court proceedings. It should be a step. This means that all accused students must be scheduled for an assessment unless they voluntarily opt out of the assessment. This ensures that students who may be eligible for special consideration receive it, even if they do not initially realize they need it.
In fact, current CHI procedures not only burden students, but fail to ensure that all accused students affected by mental health disorders receive appropriate accommodations. for example, anxiety and depressiontwo General Mental illness among college students is notoriously underdiagnosed. Therefore, students may not even know that they are suffering from a mental illness, much less that they are entitled to be briefed on such illness by the committee. This means that students with CHI may be forced to be tried and punished on the basis of CHI for conduct that does not actually constitute a deliberate or non-impaired violation of the Honor Code. could mean.
Considering the mental health needs of students is not independent of, but rather essential to, the goals of the committee. set goals of “[supporting] A community of trust. ” According to a recent questionnaire Many college students feel that their university's mental health support system is not providing the care they need. The committee, as an important part of the university community, believes that such concerns are a legitimate part of the student experience and that we can think more critically about how the structures we put in place impact on students' mental health. We have a role to play in recognizing that both are essential.
Furthermore, greater awareness of mental health in all cases before the Commission should not be unwarranted. Misunderstood He said he was “easy'' about violating the honor code. The only thing that will change is for the board to expand the existing safety net and ensure that all students receive due process. Our commitment to upholding the Honor Code will not be waived, and the committee will honor the very real struggles our students face. Furthermore, even with increased accessibility to mental health evaluations for accused students, CHI still needs to be reviewed not only by appropriate mental health professionals, but also by members of the academic institution; It does not significantly increase the chances that a student will falsely claim his CHI and escape justice. The committee itself. These changes do not in any way reduce the Board's enforcement ability, but merely add measures to ensure that all students receive appropriate mental health accommodations.
A committee that is sensitive to students' mental health will maintain greater legitimacy in the eyes of students. Students will only support systems that truly support and invest in their well-being. And this requires more than concerts and art competitions, but rather a fundamental, everyday commitment to students' mental health. Mental health should be a top priority for the Commission. Reforming her CHI procedures to better foreground student needs can establish a path to a more just and caring system.
Viet Huynh is an opinion columnist who writes about student government for Cavalier Daily. You can contact him at: opinion@cavalierdaily.com.
The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of Cavalier Daily. Columns represent the views of the authors only.
