In the wake of the tragic suicide of first-year student Rachael Shaw-Rosenbaum in 2021, a collective of concerned individuals began congregating on Zoom, united by a shared commitment to enact change. Some of these individuals had personal connections with Ms. Shaw-Rosenbaum, while others empathized with her struggles as she grappled with suicidal thoughts and contemplated hospitalization.
Among this group, one member, a physician in her early 40s, had undergone a distressing experience years prior when instructed to withdraw from Yale while receiving treatment after a suicide attempt. She described this encounter as chillingly impersonal, akin to being processed through a mechanical system.
Another member, a talented classical pianist in his 20s, had opted to withdraw from Yale during bouts of hypomania and depression, feeling not merely excluded but profoundly rejected, isolated, and abandoned.
Collectively known as “Elis for Rachael,” this group shared a common grievance against Yale’s stringent mental health policies, particularly those necessitating student withdrawals without any assurance of readmission, the revocation of health insurance, and exclusion from campus life. These policies, they argued, penalized students at their most vulnerable moments.
Dr. Alicia Floyd, one of the founders of this group, explained their mission, stating, “We discovered that there were just generations of Yalies who had had similar issues, who had kept quiet about it for decades and decades. And we all felt like something needed to change.”
The concerted activism at Yale reflects a growing awareness of the pressing need for reform in university mental health policies, fueled by the tragic loss of a fellow student and a deep desire to create a more compassionate and supportive environment for all members of the university community.
