Is Boston University Bold Enough to Listen?

Mental health clearly matters at BU. But does it to our administration? Recently students have gone as far as to say that they felt neglected by the university.
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Graphic by Margarita Louka

Within the first three days of publication, the article "Mental Health Takes a Hit at Boston University" was shared over 400 times and received more than 3,000 likes.

Mental health clearly matters at BU.

But does it to our administration?

According to one student, who had waited more than a month for her first appointment with Student Health Services (SHS), the department was dismissive, telling her that "your case is not urgent enough for me to see you here again, but here is a list of offices that will take your insurance." She came to talk about trauma after an assault.

Instances like this leave us wondering: Does BU cares about assault?

Another student said that his counselor was practically "unavailable for weeks at a time."

"My stress and depression got so bad that I would spend hours on the phone with my parents," he said. "I would pretend to sleep so that no one would bother me and I would drift around Boston aimlessly without a clue of where I was going."

Students went as far as to say that they felt neglected by the university.

One student detailed the challenges she faced in obtaining proper attention from SHS:

"I called Student Health [Services] in January to get an appointment to see someone about my anxiety and depression," she said, "but SHS was backed up, and didn't have any openings until late February. When I finally got in to see someone, after only doing my intake evaluation, I was told that they couldn't treat me. Although I was referred to several other clinics, none of them had any open spots for therapy or were too far away from campus for me to feasibly get there with my class schedule."

This feeling of helplessness has translated into a culture of distrust for Student Health Services that extends well beyond their treatment of mental health.

"I would rather pay more money and go to an outside hospital or therapist than risk going to SHS," said another student. "They are so inaccessible and I don't feel comfortable trusting their word."

This student went to SHS because she was having trouble breathing and her tonsils had swollen up. Upon arrival, she was told to "just take some Advil" and go on with her routine.

She was later sent to the emergency room and informed that she had the Coxsackie virus. In other words, she was at risk of contracting Mumps or Meningitis.

In the midst of a Mumps outbreak in several universities in the Boston area, we are left wondering: Why did BU not take her case seriously?

Many students face problems getting the right treatment or a simple appointment with SHS, but the problem encompasses the entire system. The bureaucratic hurdles put in place by the administration makes getting even the support of a professor impossible.

I attempted to talk to my professors on my own and get help from them directly but most refused to do anything without a note from disability services. But disability services wouldn't see me until I saw SHS - something I spent months trying to do without any results. The entire system was caught up in red tape and seemed more likely to hurt the people that it was designed to protect. Without proper support from BU, my depression worsened, I failed most of my classes, struggled socially and was forced to drop out and move back home before things became truly dire.

After leaving BU, all I have left is a bank account with $100,000 less than what it used to be and memories of 2 years of my life wasted on a school that didn't seem to care about me or my mental state.

No matter how difficult it must have been, all of these individuals were brave enough to reach out and share their stories.

So the final question that we are left to wonder is:

"Will BU be bold enough to listen?"

If our administration is bold enough to raise tuition by 3.4% and pay our president $1.18 million, the highest of any university president in Massachusetts, shouldn't they be bold enough to provide its students with healthcare that is both high quality and attainable?

Now more than ever, there are many students who take your classes or live down the hall and feel as if they don't matter.

As a community, we need to make greater strides in reaching out to those who are struggling and show them that we care and that they are not alone.

To the administration, it is the time to realize that students don't just come here for academics; we come here to become better people and mental health plays an instrumental role in ensuring that.

So when we say we are struggling, listen; when we say we want change, work with us so that together we can make our community better.

Here at Boston University, we pride ourselves on being an institution where you can "be yourself."

But can students really be their best selves without proper support and assistance from their school?

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