Stanford Sued After Following Another Student Suicide

[Anonymous]

For the fine institution that brought you Brock Turner. A star senior soccer player (an RA) with a 3.84 GPA is applying to law schools. A football player engages in unwanted kissing of a 17 year old on her team (a minor). The senior “accidentally” spills coffee on him. The football player does not file a complaint and is not disciplined for the unwanted touching. The school decides to investigate the coffee spill (and not the unwanted Lois’s)anyway. Stanford waits until 5 hours before the statue of limitations runs out and emails the soccer student telling her that she has been referred for disciplinary action and that her diploma could be withheld unless she provides “exculpatory evidence” in the next 3 days (guilty until proven innocent). She kills herself.

This is the 9th suicide at Stanford since 2019.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/12/01/education-stanford-death-lawsuit/

This follows The report that Yale was forcing students with mental health problems to withdraw and then reapply if they wished to finish either degree.


Just tragic. And disgusting. Don’t smear the football players’ good name or ruin his bright future by investigating an alleged sexual assault. But threaten an extreme punishment for the student who spilled coffee unless she can prove she is innocent.

[Anonymous]

These allegations are taken straight from her parent’s complaint. As an attorney, I’d say there are likely lots of facts missing here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These allegations are taken straight from her parent’s complaint. As an attorney, I’d say there are likely lots of facts missing here.

+1

There are always three sides to every story = yours, mine, and the truth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These allegations are taken straight from her parent’s complaint. As an attorney, I’d say there are likely lots of facts missing here.

OP here and absolutely. But two things stand out to me. One is that this is the college that brought us Brock Turner. Which makes me more inclined to believe they would brush off sexual assault allegations against a football player. And, NINE students suicides since 2019 (in less than three years). That’s an indication of a larger student mental health problem the University is not appropriately addressing.

[Anonymous]

I don't expect the universities to watch over my child's mental health. They are adults. There are millions of 18 -22 year olds out there working and living on their own with no one managing their mental health. I sent my kids there to receive an education. Sure they make a big deal about 'family' and nonsense like that but in the end it is a business and a business arrangement. As a business, they are not going to provide anything they don't have to to keep your business.

As for the discipline. I have always told my children if anything happens to them, they go to the real police. We don't deal with the campus police and those disciplinary committees. Frankly I can't believe how acceptable it is for the school to adjudicate that stuff as they clearly have a conflict of interest. The same way they have an incentive to keep their crime stats low.

You are paying for classes and a hotel. All the other stuff is smoke and mirrors. I feel very bad for this girl and her family but this isn't all on the University at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These allegations are taken straight from her parent’s complaint. As an attorney, I’d say there are likely lots of facts missing here.

+1

There are always three sides to every story = yours, mine, and the truth.

Not always . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't expect the universities to watch over my child's mental health. They are adults. There are millions of 18 -22 year olds out there working and living on their own with no one managing their mental health. I sent my kids there to receive an education. Sure they make a big deal about 'family' and nonsense like that but in the end it is a business and a business arrangement. As a business, they are not going to provide anything they don't have to to keep your business.

As for the discipline. I have always told my children if anything happens to them, they go to the real police. We don't deal with the campus police and those disciplinary committees. Frankly I can't believe how acceptable it is for the school to adjudicate that stuff as they clearly have a conflict of interest. The same way they have an incentive to keep their crime stats low.

You are paying for classes and a hotel. All the other stuff is smoke and mirrors. I feel very bad for this girl and her family but this isn't all on the University at all.

Do you really feel bad for this girl and her family? It does not really seem so

[Anonymous]

As a parent with a former college student with a serious mental illness, which showed up in college, the university has a tough job sorting out majority of stress and anxiety-related mental health issues, which can lead to suicide, from illnesses from which a kid will never recover, only manage and medicate.

I actually agree with Yale asking students to leave campus. For some kids, who have unfortunate luck of bipolar or schizophrenia illnesses, they are very often not coming back to school. Some will manage, but it’s going to take a year or two to sort out.

[Anonymous]

I actually agree with Yale asking students to leave campus. For some kids, who have unfortunate luck of bipolar or schizophrenia illnesses, they are very often not coming back to school. Some will manage, but it’s going to take a year or two to sort out.

When I was at Stanford in the 80’s there was a grad student with schizophrenia who was terrorizing the campus. He came into our row house and left the sofa stabbed with knives. He also loosened the sandbags in Memorial Auditorium with a knife. It was in the middle of a heat wave, and we had to sleep with our windows closed and no air conditioning because we were terrified. Residential Education’s solution was to ask anyone in our dorm to make a citizen’s arrest of him since he frequented our house. My dormmate finally put his hands on his upper arm and said, “I’m making a citizen’s arrest under such and such code.” In retrospect it was outrageous of Stanford to ask a 21 year old to do that. Good times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't expect the universities to watch over my child's mental health. They are adults. There are millions of 18 -22 year olds out there working and living on their own with no one managing their mental health. I sent my kids there to receive an education. Sure they make a big deal about 'family' and nonsense like that but in the end it is a business and a business arrangement. As a business, they are not going to provide anything they don't have to to keep your business.

As for the discipline. I have always told my children if anything happens to them, they go to the real police. We don't deal with the campus police and those disciplinary committees. Frankly I can't believe how acceptable it is for the school to adjudicate that stuff as they clearly have a conflict of interest. The same way they have an incentive to keep their crime stats low.

You are paying for classes and a hotel. All the other stuff is smoke and mirrors. I feel very bad for this girl and her family but this isn't all on the University at all.

You’re paying for a diploma. Which Stanford threatened not to give this student. So much for your business arrangement theory - the arrangement was not being upheld. And harm was done in the process. I don’t typically pay for services that willfully harm me if I can help it.

Other than that, extremely logical!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't expect the universities to watch over my child's mental health. They are adults. There are millions of 18 -22 year olds out there working and living on their own with no one managing their mental health. I sent my kids there to receive an education. Sure they make a big deal about 'family' and nonsense like that but in the end it is a business and a business arrangement. As a business, they are not going to provide anything they don't have to to keep your business.

As for the discipline. I have always told my children if anything happens to them, they go to the real police. We don't deal with the campus police and those disciplinary committees. Frankly I can't believe how acceptable it is for the school to adjudicate that stuff as they clearly have a conflict of interest. The same way they have an incentive to keep their crime stats low.

You are paying for classes and a hotel. All the other stuff is smoke and mirrors. I feel very bad for this girl and her family but this isn't all on the University at all.

Do you really feel bad for this girl and her family? It does not really seem so

+1

This message says "My kid didn't commit suicide because I'm a better parent."

[Anonymous]

I’m in the Bay Area and know people who knew her. From what I’ve heard, Stanford’s behavior was objectively appalling.

[Anonymous]

My husband is a judge and thinks Stanford has some liability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't expect the universities to watch over my child's mental health. They are adults. There are millions of 18 -22 year olds out there working and living on their own with no one managing their mental health. I sent my kids there to receive an education. Sure they make a big deal about 'family' and nonsense like that but in the end it is a business and a business arrangement. As a business, they are not going to provide anything they don't have to to keep your business.

As for the discipline. I have always told my children if anything happens to them, they go to the real police. We don't deal with the campus police and those disciplinary committees. Frankly I can't believe how acceptable it is for the school to adjudicate that stuff as they clearly have a conflict of interest. The same way they have an incentive to keep their crime stats low.

You are paying for classes and a hotel. All the other stuff is smoke and mirrors. I feel very bad for this girl and her family but this isn't all on the University at all.

So how many suicides would there have to be at a college until the school has some sort of obligation to deal with it? According to you, the sky's the limit!

[Anonymous]

Good for Katie Meyer spilling coffee on that A-hole! I don’t ever think a University is culpable for a student’s suicidal. But from what I understand, Katie and other athletes are under enormous stress and pressure. The whole system is broken and student athletes are not being served well. Stanford handled this very poorly. Should they be legally liable? I personally don’t think so, but curious to hear more.