Recent suicides at Yale College

DeepBlue86
Wed, 16 Nov 2016 18:30:33 +0000

I’m not an expert on the legal issues, but virtually every university student is legally an adult and therefore the university doesn’t really have obligations to their families apart from common courtesy and humanity, it seems to me. This is why the students have to give their parents permission to see their grades, term bills and health records. On the other hand, the university has clear duties to the other members of its community (students, faculty, staff). I think the administration is bound to act in the best interests of the members of its community, and that might mean making greater disclosure even if doing so would be hurtful to the family. I wouldn’t want to have to make that call, though.

Bear in mind also that the administration undoubtedly knows much more about each situation than has been publicly disclosed, and therefore we’re evaluating their decisions without full knowledge.